Deathberry Unleashed
by Killswitch616
Summary: Instead of Zangetsu being Ichigo's zanpakuto, he awakens something just as powerful. A zanpakuto that will bring down the Wrath of the Heavens on those who choose to cross him. Summary sucks, it's better than it sounds. Pairings inside.
1. Awakening the Wrath

**All right, this is the first of hopefully many Bleach stories I hope to write on this site.**

**This is a challenge fic from Storylover213 and the basics of it is: What if it wasn't Zangetsu that Ichigo awakened, but a different Zanpakuto.  
**

**It is an OC zanpakuto, not another from the series.  
**

**The Pairings will be Ichigo/Yoruichi/Rangiku.  
**

* * *

"Humans Talking" - "Bring it on"

_'Human Thoughts' - 'What did I do to deserve this' _

**"Attacks/Hollow Talking" - "Getsuga Tensho!" "Oh Hell!" **

* * *

"Damn you Hat and Clogs! I'm going to kick your ass straight in to next week when I get out of here!"

"Idle threats aren't going to help you escape any sooner, Ichigo, or stop the encroachment process, so less talking, more escaping!"

"You're fucking dead!"

"Language! There are Children present!"

The incredibly annoyed and angered voice of Ichigo Kurosaki echoed up through the deep pit he was currently sitting in, the Shattered Shaft, a test to awaken his dormant Shinigami powers. The orange haired teen tried to run up the wall of the pit, his arms restrained behind his back by one Tessai Tsukabishi, only for an incredible surge of pain to shoot through his body, he slipped and fell on his back.

'_Dammit! What am I going to do?' _Ichigo thought, he looked down at his chest, the devouring mouths of the links that had been eating away at themselves calmed down, but only for the time being.

'_I can't become a hollow…I can't…I Won't, I have to save Rukia!' _he thought, giving himself a boost of energy, jumping to his feet and running full speed towards the shaft wall and made it a quarter of the way, only for the encroachment process to begin again, Ichigo cursed as the pain shot through his body again, he overcame it long enough to flip and land safely on his feet.

Kisuke Urahara, the owner of a quaint and rather sketchy looking candy shop and Ichigo's temporary sensei, looked down at the withering teen beneath the brim of his striped white and green hat, his face looking all the more grim because of it. His two children assistants, Jinta Hanakari, a red headed, and rather disrespectful young boy and Ururu Tsumigiya, a dark haired, soft spoken young girl, looked over the edge at the teen, waiting to see what would happen.

"He's not going to make it, is he?" Jinta asked. Urahara didn't answer.

'_That's 54 hours and counting Ichigo, figure something out fast or you're as good as dead' _Urahara thought, he had thought the orange haired teen would've figured out some way to get out, possibly causing a big scene with a flashy exit, but now he was beginning to have his doubts.

'_For some reason, I highly doubt we'll be able to kill him if he does turn in to a Hollow' _Urahara thought _'let's see what you can do, Ichigo.' _

* * *

**Forest in Karakura Town...**

A blue haired young man sat cross-legged on a flat stone, seemingly in a meditative trance. In his subconscious, he could feel the energy of the surrounding nature encircle him, gathering from every nearby plant, animal, even single blades of grass.

Dark blue eyes snapped open and the pale skinned young man stood up, creating a bow of energy around his right hand and drawing back with his left, an arrow of energy forming.

"Let us begin" he fired at the nearby waterfall.

* * *

**Karakura Streets...**

A lone black cat walked the afternoon streets of Karakura town, mild mannerly staring at the passing humans, the smaller children would try to forcefully pull it by the tail only for the cat to avoid their grasp or to be chastised by the parent, while some of the older ones would scratch it behind the ear, and both parties would be on their way.

The cat stopped, a gleam in one of its golden eyes and its tail swaying as it spied an auburn haired girl with an impressive bust wearing a pink shirt and floral pattern long skirt. And a tall Hispanic boy in a red Hawaiian shirt with yellow floral pattern and blue pants.

'_Targets acquired' _The black cat disappeared in an impressive burst of speed.

The two of them stopped seeing a black cat sitting in front of them, its tail happily swaying.

"Awww, It's so cute!" the auburn haired girl said, picking the cat up in her arms.

"Why thank you" The Hispanic boy and auburn haired girl looked each other curiously.

"Was that you, Chad?" the girl asked, the boy shaking his head no.

"It was me" There was that same, deep male voice again. The two of them then slowly turned their attention to the cat in the girl's arms.

"Hello there" the cat spoke.

Oh, what fresh hell is this?

* * *

**Urahara's Training Grounds...**

Ururu and Jinta came back down the ladder from the shop above, the timid girl handing her employer a cup of tea while the redhead jumped in to the pit. Jinta landed in front of Ichigo who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, going over different ways to escape the hole he was in.

"Hey carrot top, I brought you some food" Jinta said, placing the basket of fruit on the ground.

"I'm not hungry" Ichigo said, looking at the rock walls that surrounded him, Tessai sitting a few feet behind him to keep him contained in his bindings.

"Well that's good, let me let you in on a little secret; the first sign of Hollowfication is having an appetite in soul form, followed by loss of thirst…" Jinta said; a grim look on his young face, Ichigo just looked at the redhead with his patented scowl.

"A hole will tear open in your chest, your humanity will be lost, the line between friend and enemy will completely vanish, all they'll be is food to you, as it begins your organs will shut down one by one, liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, and when all of them are gone, the heart is the last one to go, your mask will form and you'll nothing more than a mindless beast with an insatiable hunger for souls " Jinta said, leaning against the rock wall.

Ichigo glared at the child, his scowl deepening. Before he could angrily retort, the redhead smirked.

"How was that Boss?" Jinta yelled up to the two still on the outside.

"Perfect Jinta! It looks like you really freaked him out with that whole organ failing speech!" Urahara yelled down. A large tic mark appeared on Ichigo's forehead, his left eye started to twitch, but it stopped just as the pain of the fifth encroachment cycle began to wear down.

"You've been down here for 70 hours, you're running out of time Carrot top" Ichigo ignored the jab at his hair color, he took in a deep breath and exhaled, his eyes snapped open.

"All right! This time I've got it!" Ichigo waited for the encroachment to stop and he ran full tilt for the wall of the pit, he ran up and made it a quarter of the way again, this time kicking off to the other side and back.

"Haha! I'm coming for you, you blond haired bastard!" Ichigo said with a wide grin, he saw Urahara's face at the halfway point, it was still grim, a second later, it felt as though every last cell in Ichigo's body exploded in white hot flames, a pained scream tore from his throat, he fell in mid-air and struck the ground with loud.

Bang!

Ichigo bounced up and then struck the ground. He was still and he never saw the final link devour itself. That detail though, did not go unnoticed by Urahara and his employees.

'…_It begins' _Urahara thought.

* * *

Brown eyes opened, not meeting the sheer blue sky of Urahara's artificial training ground, but a midnight black sky with a crescent moon hanging over him, thin clouds slowly drifting across the expansion of black, illuminated by the white light of the moon.

"What the hell?" Ichigo mumbled as he sat up. He was sitting in the middle of a rocky, desert terrain; he could see large rock formations in the distance all around him, varying in sizes. He shielded his as a mild breeze came by, picking up loose sand.

"Where the hell am I?" he asked, "Is anyone out here?" Ichigo yelled, his voice echoing as it bounced off of the rocks.

"**Oi, People are trying to sleep" **Ichigo spun around to see a middle aged man with shaggy, messy dark brown hair, the moonlight bounced off of his black sunglasses on his head. He had dark grey eyes, a bored and slightly annoyed look on his face. He had white bandages wrapped around his forearms to his elbows. Nothing over his torso, revealing battle scarred skin, grey camo pants and black combat boots.

Ichigo was shocked at first, but then returned to his normal serious scowl.

"Where the hell am I? And more importantly…" he raised a finger to point at the man, "Who are you?"

The annoyance became slightly more apparent on the man's face,** "I've lost count of how many times I've told you my name and yet you still refuse to listen…" **he jammed a thumb in to his own chest.

"**My name is…"** his mouth moved but no sound came out.

"I didn't hear you, speak up" Ichigo said. The man sighed.

"**I guess you're still not ready to hear my name…what a pain…"** the man said, scratching the back of his head. Ichigo glared at the man.

"You still haven't answered my other question, where. The hell. Am I" Ichigo said a little more forcefully, the man gave him a half-hearted glare.

"**Watch your tone with me kid, if I don't get my 23 hours of sleep I'm not in the best of moods, I was at 22 when you oh so rudely woke me up, Sigh, we're in something along the lines of your subconscious, an inner world created from your dormant Shinigami powers"** he said, Ichigo came to a realization at that moment, about who the man was.

"You're my zanpakuto, aren't you?" Ichigo said.

"**Ding ding ding! Maybe you have some brains after all"** he said in a mocking tone, Ichigo glaring at him.

"**Sigh, Ichigo, as of This moment, on the outside, you're turning in to a Hollow"** this shocked Ichigo once again, the ground began to shake and crack apart.

"What? No, that's impossible; I still have two hours left!" Ichigo said loudly, refusing to believe that he had lost his only opportunity to save Rukia and was about to turn in to a creature he had sworn to kill.

"**The process sped up because of the desperation that you felt in your heart, your fear of failing and despair of your time running out, this only accelerated your turning in to a Hollow. Because of this transformation, you're slowly losing your humanity and soon your soul will be no more, but you still have a chance**" the ground burst and hundreds of sets of gauntlets and greaves were thrown in to the air where they seemed to float around, along with large chunks of earth.

"**One of these sets is your Zanpakuto, a representation of your dormant Shinigami powers, I've given you the means to become strong again, It is up to you to find it"** the man said.

"These aren't even swords!" Ichigo said loudly, looking around frantically ", And they all look the same!" He was right, each set of Gauntlets and greaves were pure black, no distinguishing marks among them as far as he could see.

"**Hell if I know, they all look the same, so better get to work Gaki, You've got about five minutes, that gas Urahara put at the bottom of the pit is also going to speed up your Hollowfication"** the man said, falling back on a bed shaped slab of rock that started floating high in to the air.

"Damn Bastard! I should kick his ass first" Ichigo grumbled, he jumped away as the ground started to crumble away under his feet, he stepped on to a floating rock and jumped up to the first set in his sights, he grabbed them, but they turned to dust on contact.

"All right, one down," he looked around ", about a million freaking more to go" The orange haired teen jumped around from floating rock to floating rock, grasping at whatever set of weapons were in arms reach, only for them to turn to ash.

'**Better hurry kid, Even though I'd like nothing more than to keep sleeping, I'd rather not die just yet' **the man thought as he gazed up at the stars above, ignoring the crumbling earth below.

* * *

**Reality...**

"**Rrrrrrraaaaaaghhh! Ahhhhaaahhhaaah! Rrraaaaaagghh!" **the ground of the training facility shook at the sheer volume and force of the pained screams of the orange haired Kurosaki boy. A Hole partially torn open in his chest as he thrashed around violently on the stone ground, a white liquid substance poured out, rising to his face and spreading out over the remainder of his chest.

Jinta was pressed against the stone wall in fear, an incredible pressure was being exerted from the orange haired teen, a pressure so intense that Jinta's throat and lungs felt like they were being constricted, making breathing more difficult with each passing second. Tessai was straining to keep Ichigo under wraps with the simple Bakudo he was using.

"Boss! What do we do?" Tessai yelled, not taking his eyes off of the former Shinigami. Urahara was in silent awe, the pressure Ichigo was giving off was incredible for a bodiless soul, he would go as far to say that it was nearly that of a Captain class Shinigami.

'_The Hollowfication process normally begins with the body exploding and then reforming, then forms the mask last, but this…the mask is forming first and should have by now due to the gas at the bottom on the shaft…Is it possible…!' _the Shopkeeper took a step back and held on to his hat as the pressure flared, Ururu fainted and he caught her, but kept his eyes on the screaming teen, the mask was still forming, but it was going much more slowly than he had expected it too.

"Ichigo…He's fighting the Hollowfication…I've definitely underestimated this kid" he mumbled to himself, as the flare died down, Urahara stepped up to the edge.

"Tessai! Do what you have to! Keep him restrained!"

"But boss-" the large man was interrupted.

"I have faith in him! I have a feeling that this kid has a few more surprises in store for us" Urahara yelled down, the former Kido Corps Commander nodded and made a series of hand signs.

"**Dopperugengā!" **(Doppelganger) Tessai's shadow expanded and from it rose and black and white exact copy of the bespectacled man.

"That's new" Urahara said tipping his hat upwards. The original changed the hand seal while the shadow copy made its own move.

"**Bakudo #63: Sajo Sabaku!" **(Way of Binding #63 Chainlink Chain Bonds) Yellow energy chains appeared and wrapped around Ichigo's body, but within a few seconds, the restraints were already straining to hold the orange haired teen.

"**Rrraaaggghhh Aaaaaggghhh!" **Ichigo's voice was slightly distorted as he screamed in agony, his body trying to shatter the bonds.

"**Bakudo #99 Part One: Kin!" **(Way of Binding #99 Part One: Seal) Black fabric cross in an X-shape appeared over Ichigo the moment Tessai called out his technique, slamming down on the orange haired teen and pinning him to the ground, iron rods fell from the sky and fell evenly in place, pinning the thrashing Ichigo to the ground. Despite that, the former Shinigami continued to fight against the bindings.

The shadow called out another technique, **"Bakudo #62: Hyapporankan!" **(Way of Binding #63: 100 Step Rail Parch) The shadow jumped in to the air with a length of black connecting him to the ground, forming a blue energy staff, he spun it above his head before throwing it down, splitting in to hundred more, adding to the force pinning Ichigo to the ground, but he continued to fight.

'_Ichigo…don't mess around, I really don't want to be the one to explain your death to your father' _Urahara thought

* * *

**Inner World...**

"**That's set number 31…" **the man said as he heard the familiar sound of a Gauntlet and greave set dissolving as Ichigo touched it, **"Running out of time Gaki" **

"Shut the hell up! Don't you think I know that" Ichigo launched off of another floating rock, going for another set only for a flaming rock to shoot past him, the backdraft from its speed throwing him away, he regained himself and grabbed two sets at once, both disappearing, he could see two more stars fall and bright flashes in the darkness beneath as the ground continued to crumble and fall.

"Your negativity isn't helping! And Quit calling me Gaki!" Ichigo yelled, failing yet again to find his zanpakuto.

"**Just stating the obvious" **the man said as he continued to look at the sky, he could see a light growing brighter and larger with each passing second, and he soon realized that it was headed straight for him. He hopped on to his feet in to a crouch and back flipped off of the slab on to another nearby rock as his stone bed was shattered by the falling star.

"**Aw man…" **the man sighed and looked at Ichigo was leaping from rock to rock, trying not to fall while reaching out for any gauntlet and greave set within his reach, only for them to dissolve to ash and slip through his fingers. Stars were falling in the distance and he could see the rock formations begin to crumble and fall.

"Dammit! Every time I get rid of one it's like two more show up in its place somewhere! Ahhhhh! There has to be something I can do!" Ichigo yelled in anger. His time was running out, he could actually feel his body growing colder, his mind beginning to slip as he came ever closer to becoming a hollow. He clutched his chest.

"Wait a second…Uryu…Ah what the hell did that glasses wearing bastard say again?" Ichigo said to himself as he looked around at the many sets of floating gauntlets and greaves.

* * *

**Flashback...**

"_You can stop following me now" the blue haired Quincy stopped in his walk home, openly speaking with no in sight. From around a corner, Ichigo walked out in to the open, his oversized katana strapped to his back._

"_I guess I need to work on my stealth more, never was my strong suit" Ichigo said. Uryu scoffed._

"_What you lack is control over your Reiatsu, I've known you were following me ever since I left the school grounds, you also seem to lack sensing abilities or you would know that I am par if not stronger than you Kurosaki, so I would refrain from trying to fight me unless you have a death wish" Uryu said, turning to Ichigo as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the glare of the sun hiding his dark blue eyes._

"_Whatever, you still haven't explained how you know what I am and about Shinigami in general" Ichigo said, pointing an accusing finger at the bespectacled young man. Uryu stood there for a moment before taking in a deep breath and exhaling, Ichigo waited for a moment. The world around them began to lighten and white ribbons could be seen over the tops of buildings and around Ichigo._

"_What the hell?"_

"_This is a technique known as Reiraku, it condenses the Reiryoku of any living being or soul and allows me to follow its owner" Uryu explained, Ichigo looked around at the millions of white ribbons surrounding him, something caught his eye, it was something dark within the forest of white._

"_Shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki, have different ribbons from the norm…" a red ribbon drifted in to the Quincy's hand, "All Shinigami have a red ribbon, which is what allowed me to deduce what you were, I've known all along that you were powerful, I know when you became a Shinigami, I also know the truth about Rukia Kuchiki" Uryu said, with a strong tug, he ripped the ribbon and the world of spirit ribbons faded._

**Flashback End**

* * *

"Worth a shot" Ichigo mumbled, he closed his eyes and focused on the world that was falling apart around him. He opened his eyes, white ribbons extending from the hundreds of sets around him, than something dark was caught in his peripheral. He looked down in to the expansion of darkness and there it was a red ribbon that was slowly falling inside the black.

Ichigo grinned and dove off of his rock just as a star came falling down. He put his feet together and his arms to his side to increase his speed.

'_Almost there! C'mon! Just a little more!' _Ichigo thought, his hand extended to grasp the ribbon.

"Just…A little…" Ichigo closed his hand around the ribbon "All right!" With a strong pull, the set of Gauntlets and Greaves were illuminated by a light that shone through the dark, the weapons dissolved and a sword hilt and guard with a small stub of blade was pulled towards him.

"**Took him long enough" **the man said with a smirk as Ichigo grasped the hilt, the world went white.

* * *

"**Rrrrraggggghhhh Ahahahahahahaha!" **Ichigo pained filled screams turned in to maniacal laughter; he set his sights on Jinta who was cowering against the shaft wall. The young redhead looked as though he would pass out any second, all color left his face the moment his eyes met Ichigo's, from brown irises on white sclera, they had turned to a sinister yellow on black sclera, the partially completed mask just added to the terrifying scene he made.

"He's breaking through the bakudo, I'm sorry boss but I have no other options left!" Tessai yelled, his shadow copy having dispersed after placing a few more binding spells on the hollowfying teen. He went through a series of hand seals, Urahara used a yellow energy rope to latch on to Jinta and pull him out of the shaft.

"**Bakudo #99 Part Two: Bankin!" **(Way of Binding #99 Part Two: Great Seal) The bindings on Ichigo broke just as Tessai called out the technique, white cloth wrapping around Ichigo's torso, numerous bolts with corkscrew heads piercing him from all directions. Tessai finally slammed his hands on the ground just as the orange haired teen was being engulfed in light.

"It's over!" Tessai yelled. Urahara looked up as a massive metal cube fell from the sky. He sighed, but just as the cube barely entered the shattered shaft, he felt an incredible spike in Reiatsu, a pillar of light shot from the shaft, the Shop owner keeping the two children safe from the shock wave that came with the large cloud of dust.

"Tessai!" Urahara called out, worried about his friend, seeing how that was a rather big explosion. A tanned arm raised out of the hole, the large man pulling himself out of the hollow, his glasses falling apart and his clothes dirty, but no real injuries.

"I'm all right boss, nothing serious" Urahara nodded with a smile, but then turned serious.

"Any idea about what happened?" the former captain asked. His assistant shook his head no.

"The light became too bright to see anything" at that moment, chunks of the metal cube came crashing down around them and around the shattered shaft.

"Tessai, if anything happens, get Jinta and Ururu out of here, you're in no condition to fight and I don't want them getting caught in the crossfire" Urahara said, stepping forward and slamming the base of his cane on the ground with enough force to make spider-web like fractures.

"Right boss" Tessai back away with a hand on Jinta and Ururu's shoudlers. A shadowy figure flew out of the shaft in the cover of the smoke, the shopkeeper narrowed his eyes. As the smoke cleared, all of their eyes widened in bewilderment.

"Wha-what the heck? Th-there's no way" Jinta said, shocked by what he saw. There stood an orange haired figure, wearing the black shihakusho garb of the Shinigami, a red hilt was visible over its right shoulder, some wrapping and bolts leftover from Tessai's bakudo on the figures shoulder. While the orange hair would be a dead giveaway for Ichigo Kurosaki, his new appearance wasn't what shocked them, it was the fact he was wearing a hollow mask.

Urahara tipped his hat to hide his eyes, a smile formed on his face.

"Well, isn't this a surprising little development" he mumbled to himself. Ichigo raised his hand to grasp the hilt behind his shoulder, causing Urahara and Tessai to tense up.

'_What's your next move Ichigo…If you're still in there, you had better choose wisely' _Urahara thought. Ichigo unsheathed the stub of a Zanpakuto and his next move shocked them, he used the base of the hilt to shatter the mask, pulling the leftovers off of his face.

'_This is incredible, the Reiatsu his giving off is the same if not greater than what he gave off after Rukia gave him her powers, but there is something else, I don't think this is everything…Hmmm' _Urahara thought, he put on his normal goofy grin, opening his fan as well.

"Hehe, welcome back Ichigo, You don't know how much of a relief it is knowing that I won't have to kill you now, no hard feelings for trying to crush you right?" Urahara asked as the orange haired teen walked towards him with his patented scowl in place, which became angrier with each step.

When the shop owner thought to back away, it was too late and he was bashed in the face by the base of the hilt.

"I told you I'd kick your ass when I got out of that hell hole!" Ichigo said angrily as he stomped on the downed shopkeeper, who did his best to protect his head. Ichigo stomped after a moment, giving Urahara one final kick.

"Happy?" the former captain asked as he got to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Not really" Ichigo said.

"Heh, Well, you passed lesson two Ichigo, you should be proud!" Urahara said in his normal upbeat tone, he opened his fan to cover the lower portion of his face, Ichigo knowing he was hiding some kind of mischievous smirk or his normal annoying smile.

"Well Ichigo, it's about time we get on with the third lesson and this 'Vow to kill me' attitude of yours is exactly what you need, there will be no time limit for this lesson and all you have to do is use your zanpakuto to cut my hat off of my head-" Urahara was stopped from going any further in his explanation by Ichigo slashing upwards with the stub of blade and clipping his hat.

Urahara hopped back while Ichigo smirked, twirling the hilt between his fingers.

"This is only gonna take five minutes at the most" Ichigo said, Urahara snapped the fan shut and threw it down, actually piercing the earth a few inches. Ichigo became worried seeing the smile on Urahara's face.

"All right then, five minutes it is, if you can't defeat me in five minutes Ichigo Kurosaki…" the shopkeepers voice became steadily more serious with each word he spoke, as he spoke he unsheathed a sword from his cane. He turned his head to peek through the cut Ichigo made, revealing his steely grey eye, which met with Ichigo's brown. Urahara's smile grew.

"I'll kill you" Urahara rushed Ichigo, with a powerful swing slicing a rock in two, Ichigo diving away from Urahara's attack, raising the remains of his zanpakuto to block his downward slash.

"Being able to stop my sword with the stub of a blade…Not bad Ichigo" Urahara said. He pushed the orange haired teen away, who slashed a couple times, Urahara barely moving to dodge them. He stabbed forward, clipping the side of Ichigo's shihakusho as he jumped away.

"Ichigo, I'm sure you're thinking that just because I'm not a Shinigami, I won't be able to cut you with this cane…That my young friend, is where you're dead wrong…" Urahara took a stance with the shikomizue, his Reiatsu rising.

"Now Awaken, Benihime!" Urahara slashed upwards, sending a red energy wave across the earth, Ichigo narrowly managed to avoid the attack, he was distracted by the sheer speed and power of the attack, and the fact that Urahara had a zanpakuto, he looked back to see that the shopkeeper was gone.

"Damn!" Ichigo jumped as the energy wave was dispersed by Urahara who slashed for his feet from behind it. Ichigo saw Urahara turn the blade towards him and he back flipped away as it came up, barely clipping the hem of his hakama pants.

"This is a Zanpakuto Ichigo, and it is very, _very_ real" Urahara said. He chased after the orange haired teen who just avoided his slashes, trying to avoid every attack, while trying to get the hat, only to driven back by a quick stab or slash.

"What happened to the cockiness Ichigo, a moment ago you were so eager to fight and now you're avoiding me?" Urahara said, spreading his feet and taking a stance with his released zanpakuto, it was odd looking, Ichigo couldn't deny that, but he also couldn't deny the power it was giving off.

A sleek black blade with with a silver edge. Black decorative wrapping around the hilt, which is bent forward near the end, and a crimson tassel hanging from the base, instead of a guard, a U-shaped guard covering covers a small portion of the medium seized blade.

"This is a nice little surprise Hat and Clogs, but I really shouldn't be surprised, given all the weird stuff you're able to do" Ichigo said, he spread his feet, ready to move at any given second.

"The countdown has begun Ichigo, better start moving" Urahara said in a serious tone, with his smile still in place. Ichigo scowled and his gripped tightened on the hilt.

"Fine, but don't blame me if I get your neck instead of your hat" Ichigo said, his scowl turning in to a grin. Ichigo and Urahara shot forward at the same time, Ichigo dodged a slash from Urahara and stabbed with the blunt head of his own zanpakuto, Urahara stepping away from the attack, and slashing for Ichigo once again, only this time aiming for the torso.

The orange haired teen ducked under it and went for Urahara's hat, who merely bent backwards to avoid the rather fast slash, and struck Ichigo in the stomach with a strong punch, sending the Shinigami in to a coughing fit.

"Not quite Ichigo, care to try again?" Urahara asked, Ichigo doubled over his fist, his coughing fit having stopped.

Ichigo's head shot up, aiming to headbutt Urahara in the chin, the shopkeeper dodging it, the orange teen slashing for the hat once again, only for Urahara to hop back and counter.

"**Nake, Benihime!" **(Sing, Crimson Princess) He slash upwards and red energy fired in the arc of the swing, Ichigo using the remainder of his zanpakuto to try and block it, being engulfed in red light, the energy wave tore through the ground and crashing in to a large rock.

As the smoke and dust cleared, Ichigo stood there, the left sleeve of his Shihakusho gone and his arm lightly burned, the small stub of his blade falling away as well, leaving him with only a guard and hilt.

"Four minutes and counting tick tock Ichigo" Urahara said, the orange haired teen glared at the blond haired shopkeeper and thought about his options, which were few.

'_No blade left, how the hell am I going to do this?' _He thought. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong time to not pay attention, Urahara had closed the distance between them in mere seconds and slashed for his torso, Ichigo came back just in time to avoid being cut but the tip and cut through his shihakusho.

The orange haired teen jumped away, to his astonishment, the rock that had been behind him slowly fell apart, as if Urahara had cut through it without actually touching it.

"On the defensive now? Shame. Looks like you won't survive Ichigo; Benihime is not exactly a 'nice' blade, defensive fighting won't do any good against her" said the shopkeeper, twirling his zanpakuto much like Ichigo had done earlier.

"Dammit…" Ichigo couldn't risk trying to think his way out of this, and ran forward, aiming to avoid being cut apart while doing what he can to get that damned hat.

He and Urahara clashed, Ichigo dodged Benihime's fast slashes to the best of his ability, his shihakusho being cut apart in the process, he tried to strike Urahara with the hilt, hoping to daze him for a second or two and get the hat, but the blond shopkeeper was much faster than he looked, dodging Ichigo's brute force attacks with ease and countering with a swift stab or slash.

Ichigo tried to block a slash with his guard, only for Benihime to cut through it like paper.

"Your zanpakuto has size, but none of the necessary power, if you can't awaken it by calling its name, then you'll die the moment you step foot in the Soul Society" Urahara said.

"Stop talking dammit!" Ichigo yelled, he swung, trying to hit Urahara in the face with the hilt, only to be kicked in the stomach and sent flying away, the orange haired teen flipped and landed on his feet safely, or so he thought.

"**Nake, Benihime" **Ichigo's eyes widened as Urahara got in close and launched another red energy wave, Ichigo raised the remainder of his zanpakuto and tried to block, only to be sent flying by the blast. The top half of Ichigo's shihakusho was destroyed, his chest and abdomen slightly burned, his guard fell away from the hilt and disintegrated on contact with the ground, leaving the Shinigami with only the hilt.

"I think it's about time we finished this, don't you Ichigo" Urahara released a large amount of Reiryoku, the air around Ichigo pressing down on him and for the first time since this fight started, he felt…scared. Afraid for his life.

'_This power…it's freaking intense…It feels like there's a clamp around my throat and steadily pressing down more and more…Can I really win this…No! I have to! Rukia's life is at stake here!' _Ichigo thought to himself. He blinked ready to continue fighting, only to see Urahara had appeared in front of him with Benihime coming around to decapitate him. Ichigo hopped back, and turned to run and get some distance.

A red energy wave shot past him and blocked his path, he turned around and bent back, the tip of blade nicking his neck, Ichigo dodged the next few slashes and stabs, jumping back as Urahara launched another red energy wave at the ground at his feet. Ichigo was caught in the shock wave of the attack and sent tumbling away.

"Gah!" he hit the ground and skid to a stop, he looked up to see Urahara had stopped, only twirling Benihime around by the hilt between his fingers.

"**You're fucking pathetic" **Ichigo knew that voice. The world around him darkened, his shadow became white, he turned around to see the sunglasses wearing man standing there with his arms crossed and a look on his face that was a mixture of pissed off and annoyed. It took the orange haired teen a minute to register what the man had said to him, his own slightly scared look was replaced by his normal scowl and a glare.

"What the hell did you just say? And what is happening here anyway?" Ichigo asked.

"**I don't stutter kid, and I hate to repeat myself, but if I have to, You. Are. Fucking. Pa-the-tic" **the man said slowly, leaning in closer with each word. Ichigo glared even more, wanting to punch the man's face in more than ever now.

"**We're still in your world, I'm just talking to you, and judging by your friend there, he knows it" **the man said, **"Time is limited, so I would listen if I were you." **

"What do you want?"

"**I came here to ask why the hell you're running from one opponent? If it were three of them, I may understand a little better, but this is one damn man and you're running away like a child from his bully" **he said.

"Have you felt the power he has? It's insane!" Ichigo said, "How am I supposed to match up to that without a blade?" Ichigo questioned in a loud voice, showing him the hilt in his hand.

"**Well if you'd get your head out of your ass and listen to me, maybe you wouldn't be getting your ass handed to you on a silver platter by this jackass!" **the man said in an equally loud tone, motioning to Urahara who was patiently waiting.

"**Listen up because I'm only going to say this once, your fear is what has been holding you back, keeping you from hearing my name like before, face forward Ichigo and never stop, stopping will age you and hesitation will kill you, overcome your cowardice and let go of your fear! Now Shout!" **

Ichigo felt a new found power surge within himself hearing his zanpakuto's speech. The man jammed a thumb in to his own chest.

"**My name is…" **

Urahara looked on in fascination as an invisible power surged around Ichigo, becoming an aura of white light around his body, Ichigo spreading his feet and getting in to a battojutsu stance with his hilt at his side, as if it were connected to a sword.

"Show them your Fury…**Tengoku no Ikari!" **Ichigo shouted as his energy surged forth in a large fountain of white, Urahara eyes widened as he was engulfed in bright light, he held on to his hat as he was and a powerful shock wave passed him.

"His Reiatsu just shot through the roof!" Jinta said, he, Ururu and Tessai hiding behind a rock to avoid being caught in Ichigo's and Urahara's fight, which was the smart move as it was all over the place. As the light died down, Urahara stood a few feet away from the epicenter that was Ichigo, his hand still securely on his hat.

"It's about time" the shopkeeper said as a grin pulled at his lips. Ichigo stood there, clouds of smoke still moving away from him due to the white aura of energy around his body. As it died down, Urahara and his employees could clearly see Ichigo's new weapon, they weren't expecting what they saw.

On his arms and legs were a pair of gauntlets and greaves, while his shihakusho pants covered the greaves, they could tell there were lines of light on visible parts of the armor. The gauntlets however were completely visible, black armor that went to his elbows, his hands were like claws, white lines of light symmetrically marked them.

"Hat and Clogs…"Ichigo called, his short orange bangs shadowing his eyes with his head bowed.

"Hmm?"

"I plan on ending this with one attack, so get ready" Ichigo said, he spread his feet, and light started gathering around his right hand, the wind picked up as well. Urahara grinned and twisted back with Benihime, ready to launch his attack. Ichigo twisted back as well, his right hand held parallel to the ground.

"If you're sure about this Ichigo, by all means, do your worst" Urahara said. Ichigo raised his head, revealing the white light behind his eyes, a grin spread across the orange haired teen's face.

"I plan to…" the light around Ichigo's arm started grow brighter and brighter, electric discharge arced around the armored portion of his arm as the wind picked up even more, becoming a powerful gust.

"3…" Urahara started.

"2…" Tessai and the children said.

"1…" Ichigo said.

"I hope you dodge this Urahara-san!" Ichigo ran forward, his hand tearing the earth asunder as he placed it against the ground. The honorific surprised Urahara.

"Because I can't control it yet!"

'_Oh my' _Urahara thought.

"**Nake…Benihime!" **Urahara called out his attacks name to give it more power, launching a far more powerful red wave than any of the ones before.

"Rrrraggghh!" Ichigo roared as he swung his arm forward and the light grew and he launched a powerful energy wave of white light, the two attacks collided, creating a powerful shock wave, the collision actually shaking the foundation of the training ground, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu hiding behind the rock to avoid the shock wave and smoke cloud.

Urahara eyes widened seeing Ichigo's energy wave start to overpower his own, he twirled his zanpakuto and held it upside down just as the attack finally broke through and raced towards him at incredible speeds.

As Ichigo's attack passed, the smoke clouds began to disperse, Tessai and the children looked out to see what had happened, on one side they could see Ichigo, who was standing next to the crevice he had created in his run. And on the other side was Urahara, who had raised a red, hexagonal energy shield, his hat gone.

"**Chikasumi no Tate" **(Blood Mist Shield) Urahara's shield dropped and he extended his free hand to catch his hat which was cut a little over halfway through.

"That wasn't very nice, Sir…I do believe you have killed my hat" Urahara said. He looked up at Ichigo who was just standing there. Jinta walked up to the orange haired teen, who stood stalk still. The redhead kicked him, nothing, he kicked him again and again and Ichigo just stood there.

"He passed out on his feet boss" Jinta said. Urahara grinned.

"Tessai, carry him upstairs and let him rest, I'll be up in a moment" His muscled assistant saluted him and carried the orange haired teen fireman style up the ladder to the shop above. The platinum blond took another hat out of his coat and placed it on his head.

"Whoa!" Jinta said loudly, Ururu gasped. Urahara looked to his right to see a large crevice that got wider the farther it went until it finally stopped.

"That's what I though" Urahara said, taking up his fan which had been right by his foot and opening it.

"Who new Carrot Top had it in him?" Jinta said. The platinum blond shopkeeper chuckled.

"In all honesty, if I hadn't used my shield when I did, I probably would've lost a lot more than my hat, at the very least I would've lost an arm" Jinta looked at his boss in surprise who just stared off in to space.

"Well, I'm going back up" Jinta said, he and Ururu walking towards the ladder.

"Take the day off you two, it's been a long day" Urahara said, not even looking their way as they ascended the ladder.

'_If Yoruichi successfully trains Ichigo's friends, and knowing the Quincys' hold pride above all else, Ichigo and his friends may just be able to save Rukia after all' _he thought as he looked off in to the artificial sky.

* * *

**All right, and there you have chapter 1. Tell me what you think, Review if you like it, constructive criticism is appreciated.**

**Some translations here...  
**

**Tengoku no Ikari - Heavenly Wrath.  
**

**Taicho - Captain  
**

**Fukutaicho - Lieutenant  
**

**Reiatsu - Spiritual Pressure, that is the energy the person exerts from their body.  
**

**Reiryoku - Spiritual Energy, That is the amount of energy one holds inside of their body. Those two sometimes get confused.  
**

**As you may have guessed, Ichigo's fighting style will change, being more of a close range fighter now.  
**

**This will still be fairly canon, I'm not sure if it counts as AU but I'll put that in the summary if it does.  
**

**If there are any questions, ask and I'll get back to you as soon as possible...  
**

**Laterz!  
**


	2. Training and Travel, On to Soul Society

**All right, Chapter 2, sorry about the wait and all, some stuff came up and I just couldn't find time to write but everything is all settled and I can start up again.**

**Had some good reviews last chapter, everyone seems on-board with the idea so far, I hope I can keep it going.  
**

**I present, Chapter 2...  
**

* * *

While Ichigo went through the Trials of the Shattered Shaft, a certain black furred cat had come across two of his friends, Orihime Inoue, a well-endowed, auburn haired girl and Yasutora Sado, or 'Chad' among his friends, a tall, well-built, Hispanic boy with brown wavy hair.

The two of them were in shock at hearing the black cat in Orihime's arms _speak_ to them, while some weird things have happened around them in the past, this definitely took the cake.

"D-did that cat just talk?" Chad asked, a drop of sweat hanging over his head. Orihime just looked down at the cat, her grey eyes blinking a couple times.

"I did, is there a problem" the cat asked in a deep male voice, tilting its head slightly.

"No…I suppose not" Chad said.

"Awwwww! Adorable and he can talk! What else can you do?" Orihime said happily, squeezing the cat in to her chest. Chad a little shocked to see that she _wasn't _shocked; a cat was talking to them for Kami's sake.

"I few other special skills, but I'm afraid I can't show you, My name is Yoruichi by the way, and I am here to discuss an acquaintance you both share, one Ichigo Kurosaki…meow" the two teenagers gave the cat their attention, since no one was around to see them, it wouldn't matter.

"Remember your meeting with the shopkeeper, Kisuke Urahara, who explained the concept of Shinigami and Hollows to the both of you, along with how you gained your powers?" the cat asked. The two of them nodded.

"Well, I came here to ask if you two wished for me to train you in order to activate your powers, so you can help Ichigo on his upcoming…'expedition'" Yoruichi asked, "I will warn you, if you choose to accept, you must give me your full attention, my training is strict and difficult, If you're not up for the challenge, then put me down and let me be on my way."

Chad and Orihime couldn't ignore the cats strict tone, they both knew that they needed help with their powers, after using once they were unable to summon them again.

"I'm in!" Orihime said, Chad merely nodded his head and grunted.

"Very well"

"Yoruichi-san, do you mind if we go see a friend first, he may be able to help us" Orihime said, setting the black cat on the ground.

"I suppose, let me guess, it is one Uryu Ishida, correct?" Yoruichi asked, the auburn haired girl nodded.

"Fine then, follow me" the cat started walking away, the two teenagers in tow.

* * *

The blue haired young man retracted the energy bow, panting lightly. He flexed his right hand and then pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I cannot lose to a Shinigami again, I refuse" he mumbled to himself.

"Ishida-kun!" the young Quincy staggered for a moment; he turned to see Orihime and Chad walking in to the clearing, the auburn haired girl waving happily.

'_How did they find me?' _he thought. The three of them took a seat on three conveniently placed rocks.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked in polite manner.

"We came to ask if you wanted to train with us to help Ichigo save Rukia when he goes to the Soul Society" Orihime said, Uryu had to restrain from face planting at her bluntness.

"If I may ask, who would be your master for this training?" Uryu asked. Orihime and Chad looked at each other before looking back to their Quincy friend.

"Well, you may not believe this, but he's been beside this whole time" this surprised Uryu.

'_No human can be that stealthy, especially not with my Reiatsu sensing abilities!' _Uryu thought, he turned to his head to his right, but no one was there.

"Meow…" he looked down to see a black cat looking up at him with golden yellow eyes. He leaned in closer…

"Hiya, how's it going?" the cat asked, Uryu paused for a moment, before stumbling back, standing up, he pointed an accusing finger at the creature.

"Wah! Talking cat!"

"I was shocked too" Chad stated.

"I don't see what the big deal is?" Orihime said, tilting her head with a confused expression on her face. Uryu composed himself, taking a seat once more and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I apologize for my rudeness…" Uryu paused.

"Yoruichi, and don't worry about, though I wish you men wouldn't be so sensitive about strange things, you two freaked out and Orihime just called me cute" the cat said.

'_You men?' _Uryu and Chad thought, something was strange about how Yoruichi said that. The black cat cleared its throat.

"What is your answer, Ishida-san, will you be training with us?" Yoruichi asked.

"I am sorry but I have to decline" Uryu said.

"But Ishida-kun, don't you want to save Rukia? She is your friend too, and I'm sure Yoruichi is a great teacher" Orihime said, trying to get her friend on their side.

'_I'm sorry Inoue-san' _he thought.

"It is not that I doubt Yoruichi-san's teaching skills, it is that I planned to train on my own and it never crossed my mind to go and save Rukia, merely to become stronger so that I never lose to another Shinigami" Uryu said. The black cat narrowed its eyes at the Quincy and while Orihime looked slightly downtrodden and Chad was still stoic.

"Orihime, Chad, let's go, we have no more time to waste with him as he seems adamant on not accompanying us" Yoruichi said as he walked away, the auburn haired girl and Hispanic boy followed suit.

"I truly am sorry Inoue, but I cannot allow anyone to see this training" Uryu mumbled once they were out of sight, he walked over to a large stone and flipped it over, revealing a wooden box underneath. He picked it up and upon opening it, a bright light shone from inside.

* * *

"Ha!...Ha!...Ha!"

"Aaaaaggghhhh!"

Yoruichi looked on with a sweat drop hanging over his head; Orihime thrust her arms in the air repeatedly with a shout following, while Chad stood in a bracing stance, letting out a battle cry. The black cat had brought the two of them there to try and help them activate their powers again, to help them be able to summon them at will, but so far the only thing they've been doing is giving their vocal cords a work out.

"Aaaaaggghhh!" now it was both of them.

"You're both hopeless" Yoruichi said, they two of them turned to look at the cat, slightly hurt by the blunt comment.

"If you two can't learn how to activate you powers at will, then I can't allow you to go to the Soul Society, you would both be as good as dead in a few minutes" the black cat said.

"That's not fair" Orihime said.

"Well life isn't fair sweetheart so stop whining, if the two of you are completely serious about going with Ichigo to the Soul Society; you Must be able to activate your abilities at will or else you will Die like a Dog in the Soul Society, understand" The two of them looked at the cat as it continued to speak.

"Activating your powers is actually much simpler than you are making it, just think back to the very first time your powers manifested and then retrace those steps" Yoruichi said. Orihime took a thinking pose.

"Well…I was so desperate at the time…" Orihime said.

"What were you desperate about?" the two teens gave the black cat their attention again.

"You see, like a Shinigami would pick up his sword to protect something, be it their reputation, loved one, personal beliefs, while their motives for fighting may be completely different, in the end, they each hold the same desire to protect something" Yoruichi explained.

"Think, what were you two trying to protect at the time?"

'_Tatsuki-chan' _

'_Ichigo's kid sister' _

Chad couldn't remember the face clearly, putting elements together that he did remember, only to nearly puke at the thought. Orihime thought back to her battle with the Hollow, Numb Chandelier, her hair clip shined. The blue hair clip split in to six lights and six fairies appeared floating in the air.

"Hey there, master" said a blond haired fairy dressed in red, a kind smile on her face. Before Orihime could speak, another of the fairies got in her face, a black haired fairy with battle scars, and the bottom of his face covered by a tan cloth.

"What the hell did you call us out here for? We're only to be used in battle or for some important purpose!" he moved and motioned to the other fairies, Yoruichi and Chad, "What possible purpose could we have for being here?" Tsubaki said loudly.

"I…uhm..I'm s-" she was interrupted by the angered Shun Shun Rikka.

"Sorry's not gonna cut it!" he said loudly. Yoruichi looked on with a sweat drop hanging over his head as Tsubaki began to pull on Orihime's hair as she ran around the room, whining for him to stop, the other Shun Shun Rikka just watching as well.

"Well…she'll definitely need to work on taming her powers, but as long as she's able to summon them, it's a start" the black cat turned its golden gaze to the Hispanic boy.

"What about you? Orihime has her friend, what do you want to protect the most, Chad?"

"…" He thought for a moment before looking at his right hand, he made a fist. He closed his eyes. Black liquid enveloped his hand and moved up his arm, splitting in to two wing-like protrusions at the shoulder; it solidified and became armor like skin.

He back-handed a large crate and shattered it.

"I figured it out" he said simply. Yoruichi seemed to smile.

"Excellent, let us begin"

* * *

"Wha…Are…Are you serious, Kuchiki-taichou?" the redheaded Shinigami, Renji Abarai, braced himself on the bars of Rukia Kuchiki's cell, his commanding officer, Captain of the Sixth Division and Rukia's adoptive brother, Byakuya Kuchiki, stood before them, stowing away the document he had just read some very shocking news from.

"Abarai-fukutaicho, It is as I said, and if I must repeat myself, I shall, by the decree of Central 46, she has been found guilty on all charges and has hereby been sentenced to execution, which will take place 25 days from now, she will be taken to the central execution grounds where she will suffer the ultimate punishment" the ever-serious captain stated.

The lithe Shinigami dressed in white behind the wooden bars looked at her hands which had balled up in her lap, she couldn't bear to look her brother in the eye, and she doubted he would even acknowledge her if she did.

"But…But…isn't there something you can do Kuchiki-taicho…I..I mean"

"The word of Central 46 is final, Abarai-fukutaicho, you know this full well, this matter is out of my hands and this discussion is over…" his cold eyes moved to Rukia, who continued to look down at her hands.

"These will be the final words you and I will ever exchange, the next time we see each other will be at your execution" and with that, the Sixth Division captain exited the room, leaving a shocked Renji and a saddened Rukia.

Rukia desperately wanted to cry, oh how she just wanted this all to end, she would even allow the Eleventh Division captain to behead her, anything that could keep her from seeing the disappointed look in her brother's eyes at her execution, a look she knew all too well. No matter how much she wanted to cry, she repeated a set of words in her mind to keep that from happening.

'_As Shinigami, we were taught never to shed tears, for doing so would mean that our bodies have lost to emotion, and in doing so, that single act of emotion, is nothing but a burden' _the dark haired Shinigami merely brought her knees to her chest and sat there, passing the time.

'_He still refuses to acknowledge me…even as close to dying as I am...Brother…why?' _

"Rukia…I'm…" he was cut off by the former Shinigami behind the bars.

"Renji…please leave…I wish to be alone" the redhead Shinigami stared at his childhood friend with a saddened look in his eyes, he bowed his head and turned to leave as well, disappearing in a burst of speed.

* * *

"Chad, Orihime, I have other business to attend to" Yoruichi said as he hopped down from his perch on a rock, the Hispanic boy and auburn haired girl stopped in the middle of their sparring session.

"But then who is going train us, will still have a lot to learn" Orihime asked. Yoruichi sat that for a moment, the two teens noticed the cats shadow start to shift.

"**Dopperugengā" **(Doppelganger) Yoruichi's shadow grew, becoming a solid copy, the only difference being the sclera of its eyes were black and its pupils yellow.

"This copy will be your sensei for the remainder of your training, do not let be caught in any of your attacks or it will be dispersed" Yoruichi explained.

"Where are you going?" Chad asked.

"To see a friend, we will meet again in due time" with that, the black cat disappeared from view in a burst of speed.

* * *

Brown eyes opened suddenly to meet glasses staring down at him.

"Boss! He's awake!" Ichigo's surprise turned in to anger quickly and he tossed Tessai off of him

"Stop doing that!" the large man struck the wall and adjusted his glasses. Urahara walked in to see his young charge was awake.

"Ichigo, this is quite a surprise, I expected you to be out cold for the next few days, and it's only been a few hours" Urahara said in his normal upbeat tone of voice, as if him trying to kill the orange haired teen had never occurred. Ichigo stood up and walked over to him, headbutting the shopkeeper in the nose.

"That was for letting your freaking assistant get in my face, you're lucky I need you to train me or else you'd be freaking dead!" Ichigo said, stomping on the green clad shopkeeper once again, only less than last time.

"So I take it you're feeling better?" Urahara asked. Ichigo worked his shoulders, arms and neck, nothing was sore.

"Yeah, nothing hurts" Ichigo said as he started unraveling the bandages, though the ones around his arms and legs wouldn't come off.

"Hey, what gives?" Ichigo said, tugging at the bandages.

"I see" Urahara said, the way he said suggested something was on his mind.

"Urahara! Is this one of your messed up pranks, because if it is, I ain't laughin'!" Ichigo said loudly.

"I assure you Ichigo, this isn't my doing" Urahara said, waving his hands in front of him as a defense "They were there before we patched you up and your zanpakuto disappeared, Tessai tried to remove them but it didn't work."

"**It's mine" **Ichigo stopped, hearing the familiar voice in his head.

'_What do you mean?' _

"**You'll find out soon enough, and try to calm down, whenever you get angry the wind really starts to pick up in here, do you know how hard it is to sleep when rocks keep hitting you in the head?" **

'_Shut up, no promises on calming down, not when I'm around hat and clogs' _Ichigo thought. His zanpakuto grunted and then went silent.

"So Hat and Clogs, are we gonna start my training again or what?" Ichigo asked.

"Sorry Ichigo no can do" the shopkeeper replied.

"What the hell do you mean 'No can do' You said you were going to train me for ten days, I still have at least five left!" Ichigo said loudly.

"And I am a man of my word, Ichigo, but I can't train you seeing as you have no sword, your zanpakuto, is a close combat hand to hand type and my Benihime uses mid to long range attacks, and while I do have some hand to hand combat skills, my style is built around dodging and countering, subduing my opponent without too much damage, while I'm sure you're one to use speed and reflexes to your advantage, blocking and striking with powerful hits" Urahara said.

Ichigo thought for a moment before dropping cross legged on the ground with his arms crossed.

"You're right about that, but if you're not going to train me, who will?"

"That would be me…meow" Ichigo turned around hearing a male voice speaking to him, but no one was there.

"Uhm…"

"Down here you moron" Ichigo looked down only to find a black cat staring up at him.

"I'll be the one training you Ichigo, the name is Yoruichi…meow" Ichigo just stared at the cat for a moment, his mouth opened to speak but nothing came out, he turned to Urahara while raising a hand to point at the cat.

"What is it Ichigo? Timmy fall down the well again?" Urahara asked. Ichigo closed his mouth and opened it again, only this time words came out.

"THE FREAKING CAT JUST SPOKE TO ME!" he yelled, falling back and scuttling back until he was up against the wall.

"Oh great, another one" Yoruichi said in a deadpan tone with a sweat drop hanging over his head.

"You can't be too surprised about that Yoruichi, it isn't exactly _natural_ for a cat to talk, it is off putting to some people" Urahara said while fanning himself.

"Yes but with all the things that have happened to him in the past and the things that have happened in the past couple days, I am right to say that he should be used to this kind of thing by now" Yoruichi retorted.

"Don't talk like I'm not sitting right here! And I do have a right to be freaked out, you're a talking cat!" Ichigo said loudly.

"Will you quit shouting, Yes, I am a talking cat, but I am also to be you sensei of sorts for the next 5 days" Yoruichi said. Ichigo crossed his arms.

"How is a cat supposed to train me?" Ichigo asked.

"I assure you, I am much more than meets the eye, now if you would, go to the training grounds so we can get started" Yoruichi said. Ichigo looked down to see he was still in Shinigami form, he sighed and turned and walked towards the entrance in the floor. He heard a loud poof.

"Hold on Ichigo, I have to show you something" this voice wasn't male but female. He turned around to see who this newcomer was; he was greeted by the sight of one of the most gorgeous women he had ever seen. The red traveled up his face like mercury in a thermometer, the red only deepening due to the blush. The woman raised her right hand and made a pawing motion…

"Meow" that did it, Ichigo was propelled upwards by a powerful nosebleed, his head struck the ceiling and he went plummeting down the hatch to the training grounds below.

"That was cruel Yoruichi" Urahara said, his fan being switched for a camera "Now just do that again but this time with cat ears and a tail" he was sent sailing across the room by a kick to his face, the woman chuckled and flipped through the air with incredible grace, disappearing down the hatch as well, the door closing behind her.

* * *

**Training Grounds...**

"Ugh…Oh man, that was some dream…and some fall, Ahh! My back!" Ichigo groaned, a loud crack coming from his back when he tried to get up.

"Aw, poor Ichigo, how about a massage, that always makes me feel better" it was that same sexy female voice. Ichigo looked up to see the dark skinned goddess looking down at him with a smirk on her face, her arms crossed under her large bust, and purple hair cascading down her back. Ichigo's blush came back with a vengeance.

"Gah! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON, YORUICHI!"

"Ahahahahaha!"

After a few minutes, Yoruichi was fully clothed; her hair drawn up into a ponytail, dressed in an orange jacket and black spandex pants that defined her hips and long legs.

"All right, Ichigo, you can turn around now" Yoruichi said. Ichigo turned his head to check, seeing that it was not a trick; he got up and dusted himself off.

"Mind if I get your full name, Yoruichi?" Ichigo asked.

"It's Yoruichi Shihoin, Ichigo, I will warn you that my training incredibly difficult and strenuous, if you don't think you can handle it, tell me now so I can go about my day" Yoruichi said in a serious manner. Ichigo grinned and cracked his knuckles.

"I can take anything you dish out" It was Yoruichi's turn to smile.

"I like your attitude Carrot-top…" a tic mark appeared on Ichigo's forehead, the orange haired teen got in to his fighting stance.

"Let's dance" Ichigo said, Yoruichi's smile widened.

"Fine then…" she disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared with her right leg reared back, Ichigo only had a second to react, crossing his arms and blocking the powerful kick, he was lifted off of the ground and sent sailing through the air, he flipped and landed on his feet, coming to a stop when his feet dug trenches through the ground.

Yoruichi was in front of him in the blink of an eye with her right leg raised high in a near perfect vertical split.

"I'll lead!" she brought it down, Ichigo side-stepped the kick and punched for her face, the woman caught it with her left hand and unleashed a swift barrage of punches to Ichigo's right side, the orange haired teen was tossed in to the air and Yoruichi spun around, lifting her left leg. Ichigo saw through the haze of pain that was clouding his mind and righted him in the air and blocked her kick with his shin. His other foot shot forward, Yoruichi bent back and got some distance between herself and Ichigo with a series of back flips.

Ichigo landed on his feet, he winced at a sharp pain on the right side of his ribcage, but he was back in his fighting stance the next moment.

"Why haven't you activated your zanpakuto, I'm here to help you train with that as well" Yoruichi said.

'_I'd use it if I knew how' _Ichigo thought.

"**That's simple…" **Ichigo was sent a mental picture by his zanpakuto and a grin spread across his face. He raised his hands and slammed his fists together; Yoruichi had to shield her eyes from the bright light that enveloped him.

-Scene Change-

"**Santen Kesshun!" **(Three Sacred Links Shield) "I Reject!" three lights came together and formed a triangular golden shield, Chad's punch connected; only succeeding in creating a small crack in the defense, he jumped back, the shield disappearing.

"Tsubaki! **Koten Zanshun! **(Solitary Sacred Cutting Shield) I Reject!" Orihime thrust out both of her hands and a single bright light shot from her hair clip, the Hispanic boy dodged the attack, the light changed direction and he bent back, the small fairy shooting past him.

"Good Orihime, but you must have more killing intent, he may be your friend but if you cannot harness enough strength in to your attack then it will be useless against the Shinigami you will face" Yoruichi said.

The auburn haired girl nodded and absorbed Tsubaki back in to her hair clip as Chad came at her.

"Lily, Baigon, Hinagiku! **Santen Kesshun**, I reject!" Orihime reformed the three point shield, blocking Chad's attack, a slightly larger crack being made.

"Focus you're Reiryoku in to your fist to enhance the strength of your punch Chad" the shadow cat told him, the Hispanic boy nodded, dodging the speeding bullet that was Tsubaki. Just when he was going to run forward and strike, Orihime preparing her shield, his energy became visible around his fist, starting to go wild.

"Chad! Get rid of the attack now or it could obliterate your arm!" Chad focused on one of the walls and went with his gut; he punched at the air…

A large hole was blasted in the hole of the building, smoke drifting off of Chad's right fist.

"That was cool" he said in a stoic fashion, Orihime congratulated him while holding his right arm up like a referee to a boxer The Yoruichi copy yelled at the two of them.

"Yes! Very cool but that explosion you caused has attracted some very unwanted attention from the construction workers!" the sound of police sirens reached their ears, "We have to get out of here, head for that door, Hurry!" the shadow cat turned around to see Chad and Orihime were already way ahead of him, heading for the stairs.

'_It certainly is impressive that these two have improved so quickly in such a short time, maybe they'll have a fighting chance in Soul Society' _Shadow Yoruichi thought, anymore thoughts were cut by Orihime screaming.

"What happened?"

"Chad tripped and fell down the stairs! What do we do! What do we do! What do we do!" Orihime said quickly, freaking out over the whole situation, a drop of sweat hanging over the black cats head.

'_Spoke too soon I suppose' _

"Quit messing around you two, we need to find another area for you to train in" the copy said.

* * *

**With Uryu... **

Uryu stood in the clearing facing the waterfall, blue light shining brightly around his right hand, he was panting heavily, sweat on his brow.

"It is done" the light died down to reveal a white glove adorned by the traditional Quincy cross adorned it, his own cross dangling around his wrist.

"Grandfather, I promise to avenge you, the Shinigami will pay" Uryu said, his hand balling in to a fist. The thought of his mentor and his death at the hands of the hollows renewed his vigor, blue light shot from metal bolts on the wrist of the glove, creating an energy bow.

* * *

Ichigo and his friends made their way towards the Fireworks festival which marked the beginning of August and their summer break. Many things ran through his mind. The conversation he had with Orihime involving him saving Rukia, his training with Yoruichi and all of her damned teasing and how he wondered if it would be enough, he was brought out of his thoughts by his childhood friend, Tatsuki Arisawa.

"Oi, Ichigo, you in there?" the orange haired teen blinked a couple times, seeing a hand waving in front of his face, he gently swatted it away.

"Sorry Tatsuki, what were you saying?"

"I was saying that you need to relax a little, it's a festival! Unwind!" the tomboy said, motioning to the festivities going on around him. Keigo trying and failing at nearly every game, Isshin showing off for his sisters at the 'Test your Strength' game only to be out done by Chad who only used one arm and broke the game.

"Yeah, I should enjoy myself…What happened to your arm anyway, Tatsuki" before she could answer, Yuzu and Karin barreled in to Ichigo, and unfortunately for him, he was standing on the edge of a hill, sending all three tumbling in to a bank, stopping near the edge of the river.

"Heeeey there, Ichi-nii!" Karin said.

"Ichi-nii~ Ichi-nii~" Yuzu sang out. Ichigo looked at his sisters like they had grown second heads; he then noticed their dazed expressions and flustered cheeks.

"Dad you freaking sleaze ball! Are they drunk?" Ichigo shouted, his father laughing heartily.

"A juice vendor diluted the juice with wine instead of water, what can you do?" Isshin said with shrug. Ichigo wanted to beat his father's face in, but chose not to and picked up his younger sisters, carrying them back up the bank.

"I don't see why we had to come so early! There is almost no one here! It's so boring!" Keigo shouted, crying comedic tears.

"You're only complaining because you spent all your money on those games and didn't win a thing" Ichigo said. Isshin butted in on the conversation.

"We got here early because we had to get the best spot for watching the fireworks! And I know just the place!" Isshin said with as much enthusiasm as Keigo.

"All right! You know for an adult, you're not so bad!"

"Let's go!" Isshin called out, he, Karin, Yuzu, Keigo, Mizuiro and chad taking off for their spot, leaving Tatsuki and Ichigo behind.

"Sigh, my old man can be such a pain in the ass" the orange haired teen sighed. His tomboyish friend chuckled.

"You got that right, so, what are you going to do for summer?" Tatsuki asked.

"Planning on taking a trip to take mind off of school and my troublesome father" Ichigo said; the statement was half true anyway; he would be taking a trip.

"Good to hear" Tatsuki said, "Have you seen Orihime? I wanted to talk to her before she left on her trip tomorrow too."

"I think I saw her on the river bank while I was down there, anyway, I'll see you when I see you Tatsuki" he started to walk away, but stopped "You and I should spar sometime after I get back, you know, like old times" the orange haired teen said.

"Fine by me, but don't expect me to go easy on you Ichigo, I'm the second strongest girl in japan for a reason you know" Tatsuki said, jamming a thumb in to her own chest. Ichigo gave her a vague wave and walked off to join his friends and family. He thought back to what Urahara had told him after he had finished his training.

"_One week from now, at exactly 1 am, wait with your window open, remember Ichigo, exactly One week"_

'_Tonight is the night, we're coming Rukia I'll save you, I swear it' _Ichigo thought.

* * *

**Later that night...**

Ichigo opened his window just as he was told by Urahara and looked out at the night sky.

"It's definitely a nice night, I wonder what that sketchy shopkeeper has up his sleeves" Ichigo said to himself, his eyes narrowed as he inspected the sky, wondering what was going to happen. He saw a shine far off in the sky.

"Huh?" A white object flew through the sky and sailed past Ichigo's head at incredible speeds, hitting the wall and liquid splattering across its surface.

"What the hell?" he turned to see what looked like blood slowly drip down his wall, in its wake it left a message that read…

_Urgent!_

_Meet us outside the Urahara shopimmediately._

"Gaaah! Is this some kind of freaking joke! This looks like some cliché TV horror crime scene with a message written in the victim's own blood. That better not stain my wall!" Ichigo said rather loudly in his angered state. He took another look and saw there was more to the message…

"P.S?"

_P.S._

_If you think this is some kind TV crime scene cliché, writing in the victim's own blood_

_Then you obviously have no sense of humor_

"Shut Up!" Ichigo threw a pillow at the message, but quickly covered his mouth due to his loudness; he definitely didn't want to wake Karin or Yuzu. Ichigo quietly made his way downstairs and out the front door, closing it behind him.

"Karin, Yuzu, Dad, this is goodbye for now"

"Good Morning! Ichigooooo!" the orange haired teen side stepped his father's attack from above, the Kurosaki Patriarch crashing head first in to the sidewalk.

"Way to dodge…my son" Isshin said, bleeding from his forehead.

"What the hell is wrong with you, are you trying to wake up the whole freaking neighborhood!" Ichigo whispered/yelled as loud and as quietly as he could, "What the hell are you doing out here anyway?"

His father held out his hand and in his palm was a wooden charm with the Kanji for 'Luck' in the center.

"I came here to give this to you…" Ichigo caught it as it was tossed to him.

"What am I supposed to do with some dirty old charm?"

"Watch your mouth, that charm was a gift from your mother" Isshin said.

"If that's important then I can't just take it" Ichigo said, preparing to toss it back when his father got in his face.

"Of course not, I'm loaning it to you only for the trip, you're to give it back to me the moment you get back got it, I don't want a scratch on it!" he backed off.

"It's supposed to bring good luck, it did for me so I'm sure it'll work for you" Isshin said. Ichigo nodded and stowed his new lucky charm in his pants pocket.

"All right Dad, I'll see you later" the orange haired teen walked off. His father crossed his arms and grinned like an idiot.

"Bye, Ichigo! Send a postcard or something so your sisters don't worry, you know how Yuzu gets" when his son gave him a vague wave and was nearly out of sight, Isshin's face turned serious.

'_He's definitely gotten stronger, but I wonder though, will he be able to handle this…Come back safe Ichigo, we can't handle another loss' _

The Kurosaki patriarch sighed and stretched, going back inside of his home for some much needed rest.

* * *

**Karakura Streets...**

Ichigo walked through the darkened streets of Karakura Town, taking in scenery before he had to leave; he had to admit to himself that the town was quite peaceful when it wasn't under attack by soul devouring monsters or eccentric so called spirit hunters causing a ruckus with their ridiculous shows. Street lamps and the crescent moon illuminating his way, the only real noise being the cars that were still out and occasional cicada.

"Ichigo!" a female voice reached his ears, and it was one he knew all too well. He turned around to see his auburn haired friend, Orihime jogging up to him, wearing a pink tee-shirt and grey and pink pants, her hair style had changed, her bangs now swept to one side with a blue flower clip keeping them in place.

"Orihime, what are doing here?" he asked, rather confused as to why she would be out this late, and without Tatsuki around.

"I got Urahara's message too, it kind of hurt to think that he thinks I don't have a sense of humor" Orihime said with a bit of laughter in her voice.

'_Now that she's close, I do feel a much stronger Reiatsu coming off of her, has she been training to come with me this whole time?' _Ichigo thought. His expression went from confused to serious and Orihime knew the difference.

"Orihime, how much do you know about what's going on? This is going to be dangerous, and as I much as I want you to stay here and be safe, I won't stop you if you're set on coming with me" Ichigo said, Orihime's grey eyes met with his brown ones, she nodded.

"Yes, I want to help Rukia" she said, determination evident in her eyes and voice. Ichigo sighed.

"All right, like I said, I won't stop you, come on, we don't want to be late" Orihime agreed and the two orange haired teens started walking.

Within a few minutes the two of them had reached Urahara's humble home, Ichigo surprised to see both Chad and Uryu standing outside, the Hispanic boy dressed in a white top with a red line down the left side and Uryu in a blue and white outfit similar to that of a monk, complete with a cape. The front door slid open to reveal the platinum blond shopkeeper.

"Ah, right on time Ichigo" Urahara said.

"Chad, Uryu, what are you guys doing here?" Ichigo asked.

"Isn't it obvious, Kurosaki, we're here to accompany you to the Soul Society, I wish to repay that Shinigami for the defeat he handed me" the Quincy said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Rukia saved me once, I wish to repay my debt to her" Chad said.

"Don't tell me you thought you were going alone on this mission Ichigo…" the orange haired teen turned towards the male voice, only to see a black cat with golden eyes.

"Haven't you noticed the increases in their Reiatsu yet, while you were working to regain your Shinigami powers, your three friends here were busy increasing their own power so that they could help you on your mission, you must be more observant if you wish to survive in the Soul Society" the cat finished speaking.

Ichigo stood there for a moment.

'_I do sense more power coming off of Uryu and Chad as well…Yoruichi was right' _Ichigo thought.

"Huh, I guess my next training session will be on sensing other spiritual energies" Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head.

"You're not freaked out, Ichigo?" Orihime asked.

"I got used to it over the Yoruichi was training me" Ichigo said.

"All right all right, that's enough chit chat, if you four would please follow me, we'll get this rescue mission underway" the shopkeeper walked inside, the four teens and cat followed him in.

* * *

**Training Grounds...**

"Wow! This is so amazing! Who knew there was such a huge place like this underneath the shop, it sure is amazing isn't it?" Orihime said as she marveled at the training ground underneath Urahara's shop, said Shopkeeper had a smug look on his face while fanning himself.

"Eh, it's all right" Ichigo said, Tessai appeared and grasped one of Orihime's hands with his own, comedic tears pouring from his eyes.

"Oh what a heartwarming reaction! It's such a pleasure to have you on this trip my dear!' the large man said.

"Ehehe, no problem" Orihime said with a drop of sweat hanging over her head. Urahara cleared his throat and tapped his cane on the ground, creating a surprisingly loud boom.

"It's time we get down to business, but first…" He tossed his cane in to the air and caught it, in one quick motion appearing behind Ichigo and striking him on the back of the head with the base, knocking his Shinigami form out of his human body, Chad catching it as it fell back.

Ichigo's version of a Shihakusho had changed slightly, it was now sleeveless and instead of the normal sandals and socks, his feet were covered by bandages except for the toes and heels. From his elbows down, his arms were wrapped in bandages as well, except for the tips of the fingers.

"Dammit, that freaking hurt you jackass, give a guy a little warning" Ichigo said, rubbing the back of his head. Urahara's smile slightly widened, with a snap of his fingers, a square made of white stone appeared.

"This children, is a Senkaimon, a special doorway that will grant you access to the Soul Society using a special invention of mine, a device known as a Reishi Conversion Machine" Urahra said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'll explain, as you know, the Soul Society is a Spirit World, making it impossible for all but one of you to enter, Ichigo, our Shinigami friend, however, this device of mine will be able to convert Kishi, which are atoms, what makes up humans and the material world, in to Reishi, or spirit particles, which is what the Soul Society is made of, turning you in to spirits as well" Urahara said, while his explanation was only partially understood by Chad and Orihime and completely lost on Ichigo, Uryu understood perfectly.

"So you mean that the rest of us will be able to pass through to the Soul Society without the gate extracting our souls?" Uryu asked.

"Correct" Urahara said "Though, there is a catch…" Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the shopkeeper while the others looked on.

"I can only give you 4 minutes to pass through the Dangai, the precipice world, the dimension between the Human World and the Soul Society and anyone who hasn't made it out after your time is up, will be trapped forever" Urahara said, his tone more serious and grave, they could tell this was no joke.

"Is that enough time?" Ichigo asked.

"Primarily no…in fact the whole idea is a little shaky, but 4 minutes is all I can give you."

"Then how will we be able to make it through?" Orihime asked.

"By moving forward…" they turned to see Yoruichi stepping up "Remember what I told you about the connection between the heart and soul, moving forward and never hesitating, about not thinking about what you're leaving behind and to keep your mind on what's ahead, the will to keep moving…only those who can do these things will be able to follow me through the gate and make it out" Yoruichi said.

"Enough with the speeches just open the damn gate and let's get on with it" Ichigo said, cracking his knuckles.

'_Same old Ichigo, never one to wait' _Orihime thought. Yoruichi locked eyes with the orange haired teen.

"You know full well of the dangers that lay ahead, you do realize that if you lose, you'll never be able to return" Yoruichi said.

"Then all I gotta do is win huh?..." a grin spread across Ichigo's face "Fine by me, I was planning on doing that anyway." Yoruichi seemed to smile.

"Good answer"

"All right, as soon as the Senkaimon is open, I suggest running like your life depends on it" Both Urahara and Tessai flanked the gate, the two of them slammed their hands on the ground and in a flash of light the gate was open and the four teens were gone along with Yoruichi. Urahara looked at the gate for a moment, he reached out and the moment his hand touched the mass of light, he was burned by red discharge, he pulled his hand back quickly.

"Looks like they're on their own…" Urahara said, "We're all counting on you, Ichigo"

* * *

**All right, that's it, Chapter 2...**

**Any Questions? Feel free to ask if so...  
**

**Soul Society starts next chapter...  
**

**Later, Adios, Ja Ne and Goodbye  
**


	3. The White Road Gate, The Axe comes down!

**Here's Johnny! Haha! Guess who's back! Ya miss me?**

***Applause, The Crowd goes wild!***

***Bows* Haha! Well, joking aside, thanks for awesome reviews on Chapter 2, hoping this one will do better because of the changes setting in, but we'll see.**

**To Storylover213, Sorry for the delay and all, bro, My apologies.**

**To my fans who have been waiting, I sincerely apologize to you as well. **

**I'm ranting, I'm sorry for that too...**

**Well! I'm not Dead! On with the Story!**

* * *

Byakuya exited the holding cells only to be greeted by a voice he really didn't want to hear.

"Mah mah, Kuchiki-taicho, not even a hint of pity, do ya not care 'bout the fate of dear little Rukia-chan?" the Sixth Division captain only turned his head slightly, greeted by the sight two other individuals dressed in white haori.

One a silvered haired man with a large smile going ear to ear and his eyes squinted and the other a vicious man with his black hair in several spikes topped by small bells, one eye covered by an eye-patch and a grin on his face.

"Damn Kuchiki, I knew you nobles were an uptight bunch, but no remorse even for family, Harsh" said the black haired man.

"It is rather surprising to hear that you know anything about the ways of nobles, Zaraki-taicho, and judging by the absence of your Fukutaichos, I suspect this is not a formal visit" Byakuya retorted.

"Right ya are, Kuchiki-taicho, I just thought I would drop by and give my condolences to little Rukia, but I take it now isn't the best time since you're here" the silver haired man said. Byakuya did not reply.

"If you want Byakuya, I could go in there right now and execute her myself, one clean slice right through that thin little neck of hers, it save you the hassle of watching the life leave her eyes at her execution" Zaraki said, his grin growing slightly. Gin noticed an incredibly subtle change in Byakuya's expression.

"I was unaware that you possessed enough skill to even properly wield your zanpakuto, Zaraki-taicho" Byakuya said, his own hand slowly reaching for the hilt of the zanpakuto at his side as Kenpachi placed a hand on his own sword's hilt.

"Gonna mock me, are ya Kuchiki, and just when I was gonna do you a favor too? If my sword can't have her blood, then I guess it will have to settle for yours instead" Zaraki said, exposing a small portion of jagged steel.

"I would advise against drawing your sword against me Zaraki-taicho, your Reiatsu makes no difference to me, I would cut you to ribbons before you could get near me" Byakuya said, finally grasping his own zanpakuto hilt.

"That sounds like a challenge?" There was a sigh, Byakuya moved his eyes to the silver haired captain, but he was not there, and neither was Kenpachi a second later.

"Hey! Let me go you sunovabitch! Let me at 'em!" Byakuya looked over to a nearby rooftop to see the silver haired captain standing there with Zaraki tied up in cloth behind him, thrashing around, trying to escape and get on with his fight.

"Kuchiki-taicho, you have my sincerest apologies for Zaraki-taicho's behavior, please, give my condolences to Rukia-chan…that is…if you plan on actually talking to her anytime soon, Ja Ne!" the smiling captain jumped away with a thrashing Zaraki in tow.

"Bastard!"

Byakuya stared for another moment before releasing his zanpakuto hilt and walking away without another word.

* * *

**The Dangai...**

"This place is freaking creepy" Ichigo said as he and his friends ran through the dark tunnel on their way to the Soul Society. The walls looked to be made of black liquid that never stopped moving.

"The surroundings do not matter Ichigo, keep focused on what's ahead that alone" Yoruichi said, running just ahead of the group.

"Hey!...I think I see a light!" Orihime said, it was small but it was there, a light at the end of the tunnel, except this was one they wanted to get to.

"Yes, focus on that light!" Yoruichi said, trying to give them some encouragement. Suddenly the room began to shake, the walls began to move. The rescue team was not stopped by this occurrence, when Uryu looked over his shoulder; he was shocked at what he saw.

"The tunnel is collapsing!" he said loudly.

"Dammit do not look back! The Exit! Focus on the Exit!" Yoruichi yelled. Uryu's cape was caught by the dangai, Chad thankfully saved him and carried him the rest of the way, having no time to let him go.

"I'd hate to interrupt your concentration guys, but there is something coming straight for us, something Big!" Uryu yelled, as he had a clear view of the collapsing tunnel, from the black goop came a light, and what looked to be a massive street sweeper was speeding straight towards them.

"It's the Sokotsu, the cleaner that comes through here once a week, and unfortunately, today is the day" Yoruichi said, the black cat and the four teens speeding up in an effort to escape the Sokotsu that was coming closer and closer by the second.

"We're not going to make it!" Uryu said loudly.

"Quit being so freakin' negative!" Ichigo yelled back. Orihime had a thought and slid to a halt, turning to confront the Sokotsu, she held out her hands.

"Lily, Baigon, Hinagiku! **Santen Kesshun** (Three Sacred Links Shield)I reject!"

"No Orihime!" Yoruichi yelled. The auburn haired girl formed the golden shield, which grew to try and combat the cleaner, upon contact, there was a bright light followed by a powerful explosion, the rescue team and cat were propelled out of the Dangai by the blast, and sent plummeting in to the ground below.

As the smoke cleared, the rescue team was safely on top of Orihime's shield. Chad and Ichigo had landed in their own poses, Orihime had landed on her bum and Uryu was dazed, Yoruichi was twitching on the ground, most likely scared out of her mind.

"Yay! We all made it out all right!"

"No thanks to you!" Yoruichi headbutted Orihime.

"Oww! Myyy Eyyyee!" Orihime cried.

"You deserve it! If you had waited a moment longer I would've told you that using any sort of energy based technique against the Sokotsu would back fire and if Any one of the Shun Shun Rikka had touched the Sokotsu, they would've been obliterated!" Yoruichi scolded her.

"I'm sorry…I didn't know" Orihime said, saddened by the thought of losing of them.

"Lay off Yoruichi, if it weren't for Orihime's shield we might've been caught by the Sokotsu" Ichigo said, picking the cat up eye level with himself. Ichigo yelled out in pain as three scratches appeared on his face, Yoruichi landing on her feet.

"Where are we?" Uryu asked, the others thought the same once they looked at the surrounding area.

"This is known as the Rukongai, 80 districts North, South, East and West that surround the Seireitei, 1 being the richest and safest, inhabited by the nobles and aristocrats and 80 being the poorest and most dangerous" Yoruichi said. Ichigo looked around and noticed no one was on the streets, not walking around, not even looking at them, despite all the noise their entrance made. There was a soul around. He then noticed something strange.

"Hey, what are those buildings over there?" Ichigo asked, the others looked to see an area where the ground looked to be made of white, pristine stone, buildings were cleaner, more well-built, an incredibly large building stood in the distance.

"Do not worry yourself with that place Ichigo, for now let us formulate a plan" Yoruichi was interrupted by the voice of the orange haired teen.

"I know! That's got to be the Seirei-whatever! That's where Rukia is right? Let's go!" Ichigo said, taking off for the city.

"You Fool! You'll be killed!" Yoruichi shouted after him, Chad and Orihime running past her as well.

"By what?" Ichigo yelled back, the moment he got within a few feet of the Seireitei, the defense system activated and a massive wall fell in to place around the perimeter, piece by piece it fell, Ichigo saw this and launched himself back, crossing his arms and bracing himself for the shock wave that came by.

"By that" Yoruichi said.

"Damn…Huh?" Ichigo noticed a large shadow looming over himself and his friends, the four look up to meet the sight of a massive man, easily five times larger than themselves, dressed in a shihakusho of the Shinigami, his left arm covered by steel armor, a large red fez on top of his head.

"And him" Yoruichi said with a deadpan expression.

"Holy hell! He's freaking enormous!" Ichigo said loudly.

"Who…or what is he?" Uryu asked.

"His name is Jidanbo, Guardian of the West Gate, picked from elite of the Shinigami, he, along with three others guard one of the four gates that grant access to the Seireitei" Yoruichi explained. The large man finally noticed the four intruders and laughed.

"Ahahaha! What foolish souls you are! Did you really think you would be able to enter the Seireitei that easily?" Jidanbo taunted them; he pointed a thumb at his own chest.

"I am the Gatekeeper of the White Road Gate, Jidanbo Ikkanzaka, if you wish to enter then you must defeat me in battle, only then shall I open the gate" Ichigo smirked and cracked his knuckles, Uryu prepared himself to form his Quincy bow while Chad and Orihime prepared to use their respective powers.

"Well if that is all it takes, let's go!" just when all four were about to strike, Jidanbo spoke to them…

"Just what do you think you're doing? Are you a bunch of country bumpkins or something?" he said in a rather angered tone. Ichigo looked at the giant of a man with a deadpan expression on his face.

"Uhm…What?"

"Everyone knows that there are three rules that are to be followed at all times in the Rukongai, Rule One; Wash your hands when you come home and before you eat, Rule Two; Never eat food that has fallen on the ground and Rule Three; Fights are nothing more than one on one" Jidanbo explained.

"Huh, is that so? All right than, Chad, Orihime, Uryu, you guys stay back, I'll handle this" Ichigo said, doing stretches to loosen himself up for this fight.

"Ichigo you can't be serious?" Uryu said.

"He's huge!" Orihime added on.

"Yeah, but he's dead set on a one on one fight, so I'll give him a one on one fight" Ichigo stepped up to fight the behemoth, leaving his friends slightly shocked at his attitude towards the situation, like he wasn't worried about the fact that he was currently about to go up against the Goliath that was Jidanbo.

"Ah, I see that you have some manners unlike your three companions. Very good" Jidanbo said.

"Not really, I just wanted to get this over with and save my friend, if the only way to get past you is in a one on one fight, then that's how we're gonna do it" Ichigo said. Jidanbo seemed to be angered by the statement.

"I…I complimented you…you're supposed to say…Thank You!" the large man reached in to his shihakusho and extracted a massive axe, he raised it high above his head and brought it down towards the orange haired youth.

"Orihime! Shield yourselves Now!" Ichigo barked out, the auburn haired girl was shocked for a moment before nodding her head and activating her holy golden shield after calling out the respective fairies names. Ichigo stood there as the axe came down, the impact turning large chunks of earth upwards to the sky underneath it; a large wave of smoke engulfed the three other teens and black cat.

"Ichigo!" they all yelled out. Jidanbo chuckled to himself, all too sure that the orange haired youth was dead as only two had ever survived an attack from his axe.

"Hehehe, I warned the lot of y-What?!" as the smoke cleared away from the impact zone, Ichigo stood there, leaning against the right side of the axe with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked up at the clearly surprised giant with a smirk on his face.

"Not quite, Tiny"

"He's all right!" Orihime said loudly, relieved to hear Ichigo's voice after the attack. Chad sighed in relief himself and Uryu adjusted his glasses.

"H-How!? You're completely unscathed!" Jidanbo said loudly.

"How Did you survive that Ichigo?" Uryu questioned past the wall of earth between them.

"My training with Yoruichi-san" he stated simply, unbeknownst to them, he kicked off of the axe and stretched his arms, Jidanbo bringing the axe level to his own chest.

"I see…Care to elaborate? A powerful technique perhaps?" Uryu questioned.

"Nah…" the Quincy stumbled.

"You're are strong Shinigami, surviving the first strike of my mighty axe is no easy feat, yet you are completely unharmed…Very well…" the grip on his axe handle to the point his knuckles whitened

"Jidanbo Ten Strike Festival!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as he raised the axe high above his head. Ichigo watched as the axe rose higher, as the sun glinted off of the blade edged, he smirked and at that moment, the blade came down.

"One! Two! Three! Four!" Every time Jidanbo brought down the large axe with double the strength of the first strike, each one creating a large dust cloud and a powerful shockwave that began forming cracks in the earthen wall before them on the third.

"Five! Six! …Uhm…Eight! Six! Seven! Three!" if the situation hadn't been so dire, the three teens watching the spectacle would have face-faulted, the Goliath going far over the limit of his attack number. Orihime and Chad were worried for their friend, Uryu worried to fight this giant if Ichigo failed. Yoruichi, though they could not see it, was smirking.

_'He certainly is more lax than he used to be, if it wasn't spilling out constantly, I'd say he's barely using any energy at all' _the cat thought.

"Last One! There is no way this Berry head has survived! Tenth Stirke! Rrraaagghhh!" Jidanbo brought the axe down at breakneck speeds. The sheer force of the impact created a sonic boom that finally shattered the earth wall blocking the other teens' view of the fight. Orihime, Chad, Uryu and Yoruichi looked on from behind the golden shield as the smoke began to disperse.

The reactions varied at what they saw…

Jidanbo's jaw nearly came unhinged, Orihime gasped happily, but her eyes gave away the sheer shock she felt, Chad's only visible eye became noticeable behind his dark brown bangs and Uryu's jaw dropped, his glasses going askew. Yoruichi's smirk only deepened.

As the smoke cleared, Ichigo stood there, left hand on his hip and his right arm held above his head, holding back the axe and its goliath wielder with relative ease. No blood, no cuts, not even clinging dirt from the smoke.

"That training…I didn't learn much…What I did would be difficult to explain at the moment, but as for what I did gain from it, Tremendous Stamina…" Ichigo moved his arm along the blade edge, the bandages not even shifting, until his hand gripped the blade, he brought his arm down, Jidanbo unknowingly leaning in and the orange haired teen pushed the axe in to the air and throwing Jidanbo off balance, shocking three out of the four spectators,

"Speed…" The orange haired teen crouched low on his haunches and pushed off of the ground, disappearing from sight, three looked up behind themselves, seeing him doing a series of back-flips, before placing his feet on an invisible force in the air and pushing off, disappearing from sight in an instant, appearing in front of Jidanbo at sternum level, barely a few feet away and still moving, his knees to his chest and feet facing the giant.

"And Strength!" he thrust both of his feet forward and the dropkick connected with the giant man's sternum, knocking the air out of him, as well as a little blood. Jidanbo fell back as Ichigo kicked off and flipped a couple times, landing safely on his feet. The goliath continued to fall, falling on his butt with loud crash, the very earth shaking, his upper body slamming against the gate he guarded.

"…So, what did you think Yoruichi?" Ichigo asked, turning back to his stunned friends. The black cat held up a white card with an 8.5

"Only 8.5? I thought I did pretty well?" Ichigo said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"One point deduction for Showing off and half a point deduction for the sloppy landing" Yoruichi said, the shocked teens were only more shocked that they were treating this like nothing.

"Sloppy Landing?! Bull!" Ichigo argued.

"Your footing was slightly off" The two continued to argue, ignoring the large rising shadow behind them, as well as the rising killing intent bearing down on them.

"Uhm…Ichigo?" Uryu said, adjusting his glasses.

"Huh? What's up?" his three friends pointed to the shadow behind him, he turned and saw the massive figure of Jidanbo standing over him, a red aura of rage surrounding his body, his axe in hand and a large tic mark on his forehead.

"You…You treat fighting me like it is some sort of game? How Rude! You turn your back on your opponent to talk with a Cat?! I will teach you proper manners you country bumpkin!" He reached in to his Shihakusho and extracted a second axe.

"That…might be a problem" Ichigo said, his face turning serious again and stepping up to the giant.

"I was just having a friendly conversation, you're pretty rude yourself, interrupting it like that" Ichigo said, spreading his feet and bending his knees for a slight bracing stance, he crossed his arms over his chest, smirking to himself, knowing he had gotten to the giant.

"No talking! It's time I crush you! Jidanbo Dual Axe Executioner Strike!" The Giant of a man held his arms out wide, slightly behind his back, the blade edge of the large weapons glinting in the sunlight.

"Ichigo" Yoruichi said.

"I know…" the orange haired teen closed his eyes in concentration; he could feel his spiritual energy traveling to his fists and throughout his body.

_'My opponent is on the offensive…Focus my energy to one point…Listen to my surroundings and wait for the moment to strike…' _Despite his eyes being closed, Ichigo could still see his surroundings, his ears becoming his eyes. Jidanbo's enraged breaths and battle cry as he swung both his axes in unison. Orihime's gasp and Chad and Uryu's cries for him to do something, Yoruichi telling them to stay back.

_'Let my energy build then cut the flow…the axes are coming closer…three…two…ONE!' _Ichigo's eyes snapped open. He swung his arms out just as Jidanbo's axes came within a few feet.

_'And Release!' _Ichigo's fists glowed a brilliant white; his body surrounded by a faint blue aura the moment his middle knuckles made contact with the axe blades, energy exploded out form his fists in powerful blasts, Orihime having to shield them again from the shockwave of the attack.

As the smoke cleared, they could clearly see Ichigo with his arms spread wide, smoke rising from his fists, Jidanbo stood their stunned at the display of power, Yoruichi smirking proudly at her pupil's progress.

_'What power!' _Uryu thought, steel shards ranging from the size of Yoruichi to Chad fell from the sky and hit the ground with heavy thuds. Those shards were the remnants of Jidanbo's axes, the only thing that remained were the yellow hilts in his hands and a small stub of steel.

"Very nice Ichigo, but that technique is meant to repel, not destroy…but you created a new use for it so I suppose it's acceptable" Yoruichi said. What the black cat had said had shocked Ichigo's friends.

"Ha…Hahahahaha! You…You tiny berry head are incredibly strong! No man has ever survived my Executioner Strike! Hahahahahaha! No matter, using that much energy must have tired you out! I can finish this with one…more…strike?" the goliath of a man finally noticed that his axes were no longer whole, but scattered.

"My…my axes…" he said incredulously. Ichigo scratched behind his head sheepishly.

"Yeah…sorry about that…went a little overboard with that technique…!" Ichigo and the others jumped in surprise as the giant fell on his behind, crying like a child who had just broken his favorite toy. Ichigo continued to scratch the back of his head; he didn't know how to deal with this kind of stuff. Sure he had comforted his younger sisters Karin and Yuzu when they cried, but those were prepubescent girls and family and this…this was a grown man twenty times his own size.

"He sounds like a siren" Orihime pointed out.

"Very nice work Kurosaki, now the entire Seireitei is going to know of our presence" Uryu said, adjusting his glasses.

"Oh so I was supposed to let this guy cut me in two! Yeah! That would've helped a lot on this mission!" the orange haired teen said sarcastically.

"Hey, it's all right, please, calm down" Orihime stepped up to try and console the giant, and despite her tone of voice, Jidanbo heard the words over his blubbering, calming down slightly, but still spilling tears.

"You put up one hell of a fight big guy, you've got the power, you just need to work on the speed to back it up" Ichigo said. Jidanbo looked at him in bewilderment, not believing what his ears were hearing.

"…Y-You're my enemy…and yet you give me advice for battle? W-why?" the goliath asked. Ichigo scratched behind his head in thought, wondering that himself, then he thought back to what Yoruichi had told him during training.

* * *

**Flashback**

_"Gah!" Ichigo was sent crashing in to a large rock by a powerful kick from Yoruichi. The orange haired teen was resilient and pried himself out quickly, just in time to avoid Yoruichi's daggers that she hid among her person._

_He used Shunpo to get in close and attacked with quick punches and kicks, Yoruichi avoiding them with fluid movement, like she could see them in slow motion or predict them. Ichigo attempted a sweep kick, the cat woman jumping up and nailing him in the chin with a back flip kick, Ichigo being sent sailing through the air and hitting the ground._

_"…Ow" He sat up, rubbing his sore chin, he looked up and scrambled away as Yoruichi came crashing down from on high with her axe kick, this one with much more power, leaving a crater in the ground where he once lay._

_"I told you Ichigo, treat me like an enemy just as I am doing you, attack with holding back" Yoruichi instructed him, Ichigo did so and lashed out with a crescent kick which Yoruichi mirrored and the two jumped away._

_"I know this is combat training, but you're supposed to be helping me with my Zanpakuto as well and so far I haven't learned a thing about it other than how to release it" Ichigo said. Yoruichi disappeared in a burst of sheer speed, far outclassing the stunned orange haired teen._

_Bam._

_Ichigo doubled over in pain, Yoruichi's knee planted firmly in his stomach, the force behind it causing him to empty his stomach contents with a little blood._

_"I cannot help you with the powers of your zanpakuto, those are aspects you must discover on your own and there is no better way…" she drew her knee away and Ichigo fell on all fours, coughing violently "Than in a combat situation, where the chance of death…" she raised her leg to perfect vertical split over her head. _

_Ichigo turned his head and his eyes widened, see the cold look in her golden eyes._

_"Is very real" she brought her leg down and made solid contact with Ichigo's back, driving the orange haired teen in to the ground and creating a large crater. Yoruichi brought her leg away and stood there, a moment later; Ichigo struggled to get to his feet, but eventually did, though still a little shaken._

_'Damn, this is one tough strawberry' _

_The cat woman smirked "Don't be so tense all the time, a skilled hakuda fighter can predict their enemies next move by reading body language."_

_Ichigo tried to catch his breath, but the knee strike and combined with the axe kick to his back, the intense, agonizing pain he felt was making it very difficult. He saw something, the slightest of movement on Yoruichi's right leg. On gut feeling, he leaned back, and at that moment, Yoruichi's foot shot in front of his face._

_To say the Cat Woman was stunned would've been the understatement of the year. _

_"You know…giving an enemy advice…isn't very smart…they could…use it against you" Ichigo said between breaths._

_"Yeah, but I'm still your teacher…and you never know Ichigo, showing an enemy a little respect may go a long way, even a new ally" _

**Flashback End… **

* * *

Ichigo shook his head for a moment.

"I respect you as a fighter I suppose is why, despite you being my enemy now, doesn't mean I can't help you improve so we can have a better fight next time we meet" Ichigo said, Yoruichi hopped on to his shoulder.

"Well said" Ichigo nodded and turned back hearing a loud sniff. Jidanbo was smiling brightly with tears brimming in his eyes.

"You…You are so generous! Thank you berryhead! And here I am bawling my eyes out over my broken axes, I am such a disgrace" Jidanbo said, the strange thing about it all, was that he was smiling.

"Right! Since you have defeated me, I shall allow you and your friends passage in to the Seireitei" Jidanbo said, he tossed the remains of his axes away and turned towards the door.

"Is he…" Orihime started to say but didn't finish as Jidanbo grabbed the underside of gate and pulled, veins popping up along his arms and one pulsing in his temple. It began to raise, Jidanbo bringing it higher and higher.

"Damn…" Ichigo said.

"Rrraggghh!" Jidanbo gave a battle cry as he lifted the gate above his head at arms-length, bringing it down on to rest on his shoulders.

"Thanks Jidanbo!" Ichigo called up, walking past the giant, he looked up when he didn't get a response, Jidanbo, the axe-wielding goliath looked…scared.

"Ichigo, retreat Now" Yoruichi said sternly from his shoulder. The orange haired teen looked at his sensei before a powerful Reiatsu registered on his radar, a split second after a woman appeared. A lithe woman with the face a battle hardened soldier, navy blue hair with twin tails wrapped in white cloth and tipped by gold rings, cold steel grey eyes and black body suit that looked to by a variant on the normal shihakusho like his own, but hers showed much of her upper thigh and all of sides. Over that she wore a white haori.

"S-s-soi-fon-Taicho" Jidanbo stuttered out. The woman did not respond, keeping her cold gaze upon the orange haired teen and his three companions. The black cat jumped off of Ichigo's shoulder.

"Do as I said Ichigo" Yoruichi said just as seriously as before, but the teen did not budge.

_'I knew we would be met with some resistance because of the ruckus earlier, but I never expected a Taicho class Shinigami to come this far out, especially Her' _the black cat thought.

"Who're you?" Ichigo questioned.

The woman did not respond to this either, merely moved her steely gaze to the goliath holding the gate.

"I will deal with you later you oversized buffoon" the Giant visibly flinched in fear of her statement, gulping loudly. The woman turned her gaze back to the orange haired teen, who was matching her glare with his own.

"Among the Military forces of the Gotei 13, I am Soi-Fon, Taicho of the Second Division, Commander of the Onmitsukido and Corp Commander of the Executive Militia, but none of these titles are important to the likes of you except for one."

"And what's that?" Yoruichi's eyes widened.

"Ichigo!"

In the blink of an eye she had disappeared and reappeared in front of him with a short wakizashi unsheathed and on course for his heart.

"Your executioner, Ryoka" to her surprise, Ichigo dodged, though she managed to nick the stomach of his shihakusho. He thrust out with a swift crescent kick, the lithe woman dodging this and aiming to slice his calf muscle with her blade but the teen and retracted his leg quickly and lashed out with two swift punches.

"You damn Fool!" Yoruichi yelled out, Ichigo ignored her and followed up by using Shunpo, greatly surprising the navy haired woman, though she remained outwardly stoic. She back flipped away as the teen appeared beside her and attempted an elbow thrust to her ribs.

_'What?!' _Soi-Fon did let shock grace her face as she landed and saw the fighting stance the boy took, it was all too familiar to her because she used it herself.

_'No! That is impossible; the only people who know of that style are myself and the Shihoin! And this intruder is certainly Not of Shihoin blood! Wait…' _her eyes moved to the black cat that was glaring daggers at the teens back, the woman could see the muscles of its legs tensed, as if wanting to jump in but restraining itself.

_'It can't be…' _Soi-Fon inwardly seethed with rage and charged at the cat instead of her opponent who stepped in to her path, his knees bent and his left hand moving to strike.

"Mah mah…" the sickly sweet voice reached all occupants ears. In a fluid motion of unmatched speed, Soi-Fon was wrapped up in white cloth and sent tumbling away; Ichigo was faced with a silver haired man with a smile plastered across his face, going from ear to ear. The orange haired teen saw a glint of light by the man's side, it flashed back and the two of them stopped.

"Soi-Fon-Taicho, letting a Ryoka in to your guard, I must say I'm a little disappointed" Gin said as he turned towards the Second Division captain who struggled against her bonds.

"You're using excessive force Ichimaru, that is no better than I so you have no room to speak of disappointment."

"Excessive force?" The male captain's grin grew slightly wider as he shouldered his wakizashi.

The very moment he did, blood sprayed from the cut that opened across Ichigo's neck, his eyes wide.

"I have no idea what you mean" he said innocently.

"Ichigo!" Chad and Uryu yelled, Orihime gasped as tears came to her eyes.

"No!" Yoruichi said.

"That's how you deal with Intruders!" he said in a rather chipper tone, turning his upper body and catching Ichigo by the scruff of his shihakusho, the orange haired teen was holding his bleeding neck and gasping for whatever he could get in to his slowly filling lungs, cough up blood that flecked on Gin's face, the silver haired man only grinned wider if that was possible.

_'So this is him, hmm' _he thought. He tossed Ichigo to his friends, Chad catching his orange haired friend and setting him on the ground, Orihime quickly activating her powers, though this went unnoticed by Gin who turned his attention on Jidanbo who was visibly shaking, though he did not know if it was from the weight of the gate or the presence of two captains, though the latter brought him greater joy in the thought of the goliath's fear.

"So…What made ya think you could just let those Ryoka there waltz on in to the Seireitei, you're supposed ta be protectin' the gate, not just lettin' the riffraff come in here when they please" Gin said, twirling the wakizashi by the hilt between his fingers.

Jidanbo gulped "I…I was…I was defeated, Ichi-Ichimaru-Taicho, and as a-Aaaaaggghhhhh!" Before he could continue any further in his explanation, his arm was severed from his shoulder without hesitation from the Third Division Captain who had his zanpakuto in an after slash position.

"Jidanbo!" Orihime yelled, blood gushing from the wound. The goliath fell to one knee, desperately trying to hold on to the gate or risk being crushed and killed by it.

"As…As a Gate Guardian I-I am p-permitted to…Ugh! Open the gate upon my defeat and allow the one who defeated me to pass, It…makes perfect sense!" Jidanbo said. Gin stopped twirling the blade.

"You idiot…" Jidanbo looked at the man in fear, hearing the edge in his voice "There are only one 'Rule' as a Gate Guardian, and that is to kill anyone who tries to enter the Seireitei, you ain't supposed to open no gate!" Gin took a bracing stance, right foot ahead of him and his left foot behind him.

"And if you just so happened to lose…" he drew back his right arm, his zanpakuto pointing forward.

"It means…Death" Jidanbo could feel a large amount of pressure bearing down on him.

"Shoot'em Dead, Shinso" he thrust the wakizashi forward and it was engulfing by white light, the blade extended to incredible lengths, closing in on Jidanbo's heart in seconds. An orange blur appeared just before it pierced and something blocked it, but the goliath was still sent flying, far overhead of Ichigo's friends and the gate was launched high in to the air.

Jidanbo hit the ground hard but the blade hadn't moved but a few feet outside of the gate. Gin's eyebrows rose and his grin turned in to a small frown.

"Wasn't expecting that…" Ichigo stood there, the tip of the wakizashi a few inches away from the right side of his chest, his bandaged wrapped hand bleeding from his tight grip on the blade. Only a blood stain was left from their earlier altercation, not scar on his neck.

_'Now that is interesting…'_

"Ichigo!" Yoruichi yelled as he ran to other side of the gate as it began its descent.

"What's your name?" Ichigo asked. The frown disappeared and the man grinned from ear to ear just like before.

"Name is Gin Ichimaru, Taicho of the Third Division, and you're Ichigo Kurosaki, correct?" the silver haired man asked.

"…Yeah" the Substitute Shinigami pushed the blade away and Gin retracted it, the wakizashi returning to its normal length.

"Well…Bye-bye" the Taicho waved just as the gate fell past him and hit the ground with a loud crash.

_'How does that Fox-faced bastard know my name?' _

* * *

**Behind the Gate…**

"Well that certainly was interesting, don'tcha think Soi-Fon-Taicho?" Gin asked, turning to the bound woman who finally managed to break the wrapping.

She did not respond, for her mind was somewhere else, she looked towards the gate.

_'Could it…Could she have finally returned? No! No it could not have been her! My revenge will have to wait until another day' _Soi-Fon thought.

"Ichimaru-Taicho, I do hope you will be able to explain the use of your Shikai to Captain-Commander Yamamoto, after what has occurred, he will no doubt be calling for a Captain's meeting soon" the navy haired woman said, sheathing her own zanpakuto behind her back.

"I no need to worry about little ol' me, I'll think of something I'm sure" Gin said. There was a silence between the two, broken by Soi-Fon who merely grunted and disappeared via Shunpo. Gin hummed to himself as he walked off, twirling Shinso by the hilt.

_'I don't think Aizen-Taicho will be very happy with me after slitting Ichi-chan's throat like that…' _he thought.

"Sigh, Oh well…I'm going to have to explain the bloodstains too I suppose…" Gin mused.

* * *

**Outside of Seireitei… **

"You idiot! Those were Captain class Shinigami, there power is far beyond your own, even with the use of your Shikai either one of them could've killed with their sealed zanpakuto and even with their bare hands!' Yoruichi scolded Ichigo who stood there, looking at the gate door. His thoughts were elsewhere, the cat's words falling on deaf ears.

_'Gin Ichimaru…Soi-Fon…Byakuya Kuchiki…only three out of Thirteen and it doesn't sound like their power level is based on ranking, who knows where they really place' _Ichigo thought, his fists clenching. He was broken from his thoughts by the sound of Yoruichi's voice.

"Ichigo! Are you listening to me?!" the orange haired teen looked down at his sensei.

"No…sorry, what were you saying?" the golden eyed cat could pick up on a dejected edge in Ichigo's voice, she sighed, despite his not listening, he had already figured out the dangers he would be facing.

"Jidanbo's injured, the others are with him so let's go" Yoruichi said, the teen didn't respond, merely followed along.

"Will you be able to heal him Orihime?" Chad asked. The three of them stood at Jidanbo's side, the giant was down and breathing heavily as blood loss started to take its toll, Orihime thought for a moment before nodding

"Of Course! It'll only take a minute!" she said cheerfully despite the grim sight before them, she placed the tips of her fingers against the six point hair pins holding her auburn locks.

"Shun'o, Ayame, **Soten Kisshun **(Twin Sacred Return Shield) I Reject!" Orihime said, she held her hands in front of her, a light shot from each clip and formed an oval shaped golden shield over the goliath's shoulder. From the stub muscle and bone began to reform and from nothing the same thing happened as well.

"Ichigo, Chad, I think we have company" Uryu said, the Hispanic giant and orange haired teen turned to the town where the Quincy had set his gaze and saw many of the of its occupants from the elderly to the small children were coming out of their homes, giving them wary looks, looks of worry directed towards Jidanbo and looks of awe from the approaching crowd for Orihime's abilities.

"I thought they were afraid of us" Ichigo said.

"We were, people like yourselves are rarely seen around these parts except for the occasional Shinigami, but even they few and far between as they rarely leave the Seireitei except when on missions, but, after you risked your life to help Jidanbo, we saw that you were not so bad" an elderly man with white hair on the sides along with a beard and moustache walked up to them.

"Jidanbo is well liked in these parts, such a kind soul, always helpful when needed, but I digress, I want to extend my dearest thanks for saving his life" the elderly man said.

"Not a problem, it was the least I could do for him for trying to help us" Ichigo said, Yoruichi jumped on to the orange haired teen's shoulder once again.

"Yoruichi, how are we going to get in to the Seireitei now, we can't go to another gate, no doubt they'll have heavier security on the inside this time" Ichigo asked, Uryu, Chad and Orihime, having finished healing Jidanbo, gathered around for the answer.

"There is more than one way to enter the Seireitei, using one of the four gates was one of the simpler means but seeing as how that plan did not work…" the black cat pawed at Ichigo's cheek "We still have one other option, excuse me Elder-dono" Yoruichi said, getting the old man's attention.

"Hold on Yoruichi…You don't mean…" Ichigo trailed off.

"I do…Elder-dono, Would you happen to know the whereabouts..."

"There's gotta be another way?" Ichigo said. Yoruichi pawed his cheek for interrupting her, trying to get him to stay quiet.

"Who're you talking about?" Uryu questioned.

Ichigo gulped.

"Kukaku Shiba"

* * *

**All Righty! I really hoped this chapter made up for the long absence, which I sincerely apologize for once again, I just could not get this done, no matter how much I wanted to.**

**Yeah, some of the promised change in series besides the Zanpakuto, though I'm sure some of you saw it coming.**

**I got a couple reviews asking if Chad, Orihime and the others were going to be stronger than their Anime/Manga Counterparts.**

**Yes, I will be making them stronger and giving them a few touch-ups. My character development skills are amateur at best so let's hope for the best.**

**I'm ranting again, I'm sorry! Let me know what you think, any questions and I'll get back to you as quickly as possible.**

**Ja Ne! Killswitch Out!**


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